Civilians took advantage of the lull to pack their cars and flee, flying white flags from their windows. This correspondent saw two wounded people lying in pools of blood in the street.

But a number of aid workers were forced to leave when shells exploded near their convoy, wounding at least two people. A U.N. convoy had to withdraw amid sporadic blasts and gunfire.

Residents begged journalists to evacuate them. A man trying to carry a wounded woman to safety had to leave her in the street when bullets began flying.

Heavy fighting at Nahr al-Bared camp, home to 40,000 people near the northern city of Tripoli, raged from dawn until the afternoon. The army has been attacking Fatah al-Islam, an al-Qaida-inspired Sunni group based in the camp since last year.

Clashes died down after Fatah al-Islam said it would cease fire if the army did the same. The United Nations used the lull to try to deliver food, water and medical supplies to the camp.

Shocked camp residents emerged from their homes to see the destruction. Shell fire had torn huge holes in buildings. Gunmen roamed the rubble-strewn street. No casualty toll was available.

“What the hell were they (the army) doing? Did they think they were fighting the Israeli army?” resident Mahmoud Tayyar asked.

Fatah al-Islam has little local support, but the firepower the army has turned on the camp has begun to anger Palestinians.

“We have seen many wars but never seen bombardment in this way. Entire areas have been destroyed,” Jamal Laila, 40, said by telephone earlier. “Children have no milk, water or bread.

“For the sake of 10, 20 or 30 individuals an entire camp is being massacred,” he said, weeping over the phone.

U.N. aid trucks had waited for hours to enter the camp, on the coast just outside Tripoli, Lebanon’s second biggest city. When they finally drove in, some residents threw stones at the trucks, furious that they had taken so long to arrive.

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