$32 million worth of humanitarian aid in the form of medical supplies, food and gasoline has been sent to Syria by Israeli organisations such as the Peres Centre for Peace, as well as by private citizens, it has been revealed.
In addition to the above, items such as incubators, pipes, clothing and diapers were amongst the 92 pallets transferred to Syria between April 2016 and June 2017. These items, paid for by donations, were transported via Syrian trucks into special meeting points in Israel which are monitored by the army.
The Israel Defense Forces have also sent over prefab houses which act as classrooms. One officer said “there’s a whole generation of Syrian children who haven’t studied for years”.
The figures, which have been extracted through the Freedom of Information Law, show that over 3,000 Syrians who were wounded by the civil war were treated at Israeli field hospitals, with a further 1,200 brought over to Israel for medical treatment.
Initially it was ensured that these goods were transferred without any Hebrew writing on, however this was stopped after a few months, due to the shipments being so large.
An Israeli officer said that “at the end of the day this is help for people who are really suffering on a day-to-day basis,” and that “the Israeli aid is helping save lives every day”.
Since the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011, hundreds of thousands have died and millions have been displaced. Israel – who remains officially at war with Syria – has responded to the civil war by providing medical treatment to wounded Syrians, treating people in field hospitals on the border and in public hospitals, mostly in northern Israel since 2013.
