Israel evacuates 800 White Helmets to Jordan
AMMAN: Israel has evacuated 800 White Helmets rescuers and their family members threatened by advancing Syrian regime forces to Jordan for resettlement in Britain, Canada and Germany, the kingdom said on Sunday. “Upon request of the US, Canada and European states, Israel has completed a humanitarian effort to rescue members of a Syrian civil organisation (“White Helmets”) and families,” Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon tweeted.
AMMAN: Israel has evacuated 800 White Helmets rescuers and their family members threatened by advancing Syrian regime forces to Jordan for resettlement in Britain, Canada and Germany, the kingdom said on Sunday.
An Israeli government source confirmed Israel’s military had rescued 800 people who were taken to Jordan.
“Upon request of the US, Canada and European states Israel has completed a humanitarian effort to rescue members of a Syrian civil organisation (“White Helmets”) and families,” Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon tweeted.
Founded in 2013, the Syria Civil Defence, or White Helmets, is a network of first responders which rescues wounded in the aftermath of air strikes, shelling or blasts in rebel-held territory.
Jordan said on Sunday that it had taken in 800 White Helmets rescuers and their families from Israel and plans to transfer them to the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany.
“The Jordanian government said it had authorised the United Nations to organise the passage of 800 Syrian citizens through Jordan to be resettled in western countries,” the kingdom said.
“The government gave the permission after Britain, Germany and Canada made a legally binding undertaking to resettle them within a specified period of time due to ‘a risk to their lives’,” it said. “These Syrian citizens who were working in the civil defence, had fled the areas controlled by the Syrian opposition after the Syrian army’s attack in those areas.”
The White Helmets have rescued thousands of civilians trapped under rubble or caught up in fighting in battered opposition-held zones along various fronts of Syria’s conflict. The group’s motto — “To save one life is to save all of humanity” — is drawn from a verse in the Quran, although they insist they treat all victims, regardless of religion.