This PHOTO is for real and moving

The crowd stretches beyond what your eyes can see.



Standing amid the bombed ruins of their lives, these weary people are inhabitants of the Yarmouk refugee camp awaiting food packets from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.

Before the civil war broke out in Syria, Yarmouk, an unofficial refugee camp, was home to some 150,000 Palestinian refugees. That figure has since dwindled to just 20,000.

During the civil war, Yarmouk became the scene of intense fighting between the Free Syrian Army and the PFLP-GC supported by the Syrian Army government forces. 

The camp was closed off by the Syrian regime last year, after it served as a primary base of operations for the Free Syrian Army and other radical Islamist militias.

According to the Haaretz daily, "The tragedy lies in that there really is no one to negotiate with in order to secure free flow of aid to the camp. When the Palestinian leaders met with officials from rebel groups, and especially the Islamist militias, their demands were refused, as the rebels claim that the land is Syrian, and not Palestinian.'

The conflict led to severe food shortages and widespread hunger. 

Since January 18, the UN agency has managed to deliver 6,528 food parcels, 10,000 polio vaccines and a range of other medical supplies to civilians inside the camp. However, it has so far had only partial humanitarian access.

The UN has reported infant malnutrition in the community, which has been reduced to eating animal feed. As of this week, all aid distributions have been suspended because of security concerns.

The extreme situation has forced the UNRWA to release this photograph of the camp to draw the world's attention to the need for safe, substantial and continuous humanitarian access.