A Palestinian militia has been fighting alongside forces loyal to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the ongoing battle for the city of Aleppo, the Long War Journal reported on Wednesday.

The Quds Brigade, also called the Liwa al-Quds, is predominately made up of Palestinian fighters drawn from the al-Nayrab and Handarat Palestinian refugee camps near Aleppo, according to one of the group’s commanders. The Quds Brigade, also known as the Syrian Arab Army Fedayeen, is commanded by Mohammad al-Said.

Lately, the group has been fighting alongside the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and Iran-led Shiite expeditionary forces against Sunni Islamist rebels for control of the Handarat camp. Since Handarat is located near Castello Road, which leads to rebel-held eastern Aleppo, capturing the territory would “consolidate the pro-regime forces’ siege in the north and position forces next to the neighborhood blocks of eastern Aleppo,” the Journal wrote, citing a Syrian source who spoke to Iranian media.

There are also unconfirmed reports that Hezbollah has joined the SAA in the battles for Handarat heights in the northern parts of Aleppo.

In April, Lebanese journalist Hanin Ghaddar observed that the Palestinians had lost credibility in the Arab world for failing to speak out about the atrocities committed by the Assad regime.

In Yarmouk and the Failure of Palestine Solidarity, which was published in the May 2015 issue of The Tower Magazine, senior editor Ben Cohen examined the silence of pro-Palestinian activists in the face of the destruction that Assad brought upon Palestinians living in the Yarmouk refugee camp.

[Photo: ΓΙΑΝΝΗΣ ALDEBARAN / YouTube ]