A Palestinian minister today accused "terrorists" fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of blocking aid access to the Yarmuk refugee camp in southern Damascus.
Rebels control swathes of Yarmuk, but for months government forces have imposed a suffocating siege on the camp, where some 20,000 Palestinians live despite terrible shortages.
Palestinian labour minister Ahmad Majdalani, who was visiting Damascus to negotiate aid access to the camp, said its Palestinian residents must not be used as "hostages" in the conflict.
An aid convoy heading to Yarmuk was targeted yesterday "some 100 metres (yards) away from the agreed meeting point," on the edges of the camp, Majdalani said at a press conference in Damascus.
He said "the source of fire was known... To be controlled by Al-Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham and Suqur al-Golan," directly accusing rebel groups battling Assad's troops.
Majdalani added "all these groups are known for their terrorist links and methodology."
The minister also said Palestinians "everywhere know... that those who have taken the camp hostage are these groups, not the Syrian authorities."
Some 45 people have died in recent months because of food and medical shortages in Yarmuk, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group has said, with the most recent death today.
Yesterday's aid convoy was the sixth to have failed to enter the camp.
Palestinian sources have told AFP the convoys were blocked from entering by gunfire, but did not specify who was responsible.
