Arriving on donkeys, Syrian war wounded seek Israeli help
MOUNT HERMON, Syria: The wounded Syrians, carried on donkeys through the pitch-black night, could be seen in the beam of a searchlight held by their unlikely saviors — Israeli soldiers.
They were high in the mountains, nearing the Israeli-occupied zone of the Golan Heights, where they were to receive medical treatment for their wounds even though Israel and Syria are officially at war.
Casualties from Syria’s six-year civil war are taken to hospitals inside Israel several nights each week.
At the same time, Israeli soldiers return Syrians, who have received treatment, to the disengagement line that divides the Syrian-controlled part of the Golan from that ruled by Israel.
It is another example of the many contradictions in the morass of the sixyear Syrian conflict.
Israel does not take in refugees from the war, but its army says that it has facilitated the treatment of more than 3,100 wounded in Israeli hospitals since 2013.
The army acknowledges they treat any Syrian who needs it, including civilians or even militants fighting Assad’s regime.
On a recent night, a procession of five patients made its way along Mount Hermon, known as Jabal Al-Sheikh in Arabic and the highest point of the Golan Heights, avoiding gunfire between warring groups on the Syrian side.
They arrive with assorted fractures and shrapnel wounds.
“They know that there are specific places which they can reach and where we wait for them,” says Tomer Kolar, the Israeli army’s chief medical officer for the sector.
“There is no ambulance on the other side. Sometimes they arrive in the back of a truck or by car, but on the Hermon they come with donkeys. When they arrive in the middle of winter, in the snow, they are sometimes in an extremely serious condition.”
Nearly two-thirds of wounded Syrians are taken to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, on Israel’s coast near the border with Lebanon.
A hospital wing, located in the basement, has been set aside for the men and is under permanent watch while wounded women and children are placed in other departments.
Inside the men’s unit, patients rest and watch television.
One of them is Hani, 28, who had part of his face shattered by gunfire during an offensive on his village by Assad’s forces. He speaks on condition of anonymity for fear or reprisals when he returns home.
Hospitalized in Nahariya for more than a year, Hani lost an eye and underwent multiple operations.
Sameh, 31, who arrived at the hospital three weeks ago, had an arm amputated after being wounded in fighting against Assad’s army.
“When I’m healed, I’ll fight back against Assad,” he said without hesitation through a Arab Israeli nurse who translated for him.
Israel has found itself in a complex position regarding the Syrian war.
It wants to avoid being dragged into the conflict, but acknowledges carrying out dozens of airstrikes there to stop what it says are advanced arms deliveries to Hezbollah.
The Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite group fighting alongside Syrian regime forces, is Israel’s longstanding foe.