The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) on Tuesday expressed concern over the number of Palestinian refugees displaced by the violence in Syria, a spokesman told reporters here.

"Palestinian refugees in Syria are being killed, injured and displaced in greater numbers than ever before, as the armed conflict continues to overwhelm refugee camps across the country," said Martin Nesirky, spokesperson to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon, here at a daily briefing.

UNRWA estimates that approximately 235,000 Palestinian refugees have been displaced inside Syria. Its news release on Tuesday also confirmed that 6,000 Palestinians were displaced from Ein El Tal, a Palestine refugee camp near Aleppo, after armed groups stormed the camp on April 26, declaring it a military zone.

The agency "responded quickly to the need of the displaced refugees and arranged to provide food and cash assistance to the displaced, many of whom are still seeking temporary accommodation in Aleppo city," said Nesirky.

"Response efforts are continuing amidst reports that significant numbers of the displaced refugees may be trapped without adequate shelter in rural areas around Aleppo where intense armed conflict continues to rage," said the UNRWA news release.

The two-year old conflict has severely affected the Palestinian population inside Syria that now almost exclusively relies on assistance from UNRWA to survive.

The Yarmouk camp near Damascus once housed 150,000 Palestinians, but this number has now dwindled down to around 20,000 due to the severity of the conflict.

UNRWA "is urgently appealing to all sides to halt the human suffering caused by the conflict in Syria, and to resolve their differences through dialogue and political negotiations," said the spokesman. Endi

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