Cease-fire collapses

Nahr Al Bared: Aid workers delivering supplies were forced to leave a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon when a cease fire, which began at 2.30 between militant group Islamic Fatah and the Lebanese army, fell apart after only an hour.

It is not initially known which side broke the accord, which Fatah Al Islam, who are holed up in the Nahr Al Bared refugee camp say was ‘an attempt to stop the bloodshed of children and elderly.'

The Lebanese military had said it will not be the first to open fire, but refused to commit to a formal cease-fire.

A UN convoy was also forced to retreat because of gunfire and shelling.

Concern for the welfare of some 40,000 Palestinians civilians trapped in Nahr Al Bared refugee camp heightened as the Lebanese army stepped up its attack on Tuesday against militants from the group Fatah Al Islam, who are hiding in the camp.

The number of civilians wounded and killed since the fighting between the army and Fatah Al Islam began on Sunday has yet to be verified, but at last count at least 20 militants, 32 soldiers and 27 civilians have been killed in the battle.

Medical sources from inside the camp, who are appealing for the fighting to stop, told news channel Al Jazeera that there were dead and wounded people in the street and things were worsening.

"The situation is very tragic," camp resident Layla Mouad told Al Jazeera television by telephone. "There are three wounded in front of my house and we can't evacuate them. If there is calm for a while, then a minute later there is big explosion ... we are hiding under the sofas," she said.