ISRAEL EVACUATES 800 WHITE HELMETS IN FACE OF SYRIA ADVANCE

ISRAEL has evacuated 800 White Helmets volunteer rescuers and their family members threatened by advancing Syrian regime forces to Jordan for resettlement in Britain, Canada and Germany, Amman has said.

Founded in 2013, the Syria Civil Defence, or White Helmets, is a network of first responders that rescues wounded in the aftermath of airstrikes, shelling or explosions in rebel-held territory.

Jordan 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’.” 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,” the Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, Emmanuel Nahshon, tweeted.

Raed Saleh, the head of the White Helmets, said the evacuees had arrived in Jordan after being “surrounded in a dangerous region”.

They were encircled in the provinces of Deraa and Quneitra, he said, including a number trapped between the border with the Golan Heights and advancing Russia-backed regime troops, he told AFP.

-The Guardian