White Helmets rescuers evacuated
• Jordan authorised UN to organise the passage of 800 Syrian citizens
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, Amman said on Sunday.
Founded in 2013, the Syria Civil Defence, or White Helmets, is a network of first responders that rescues wounded in the aftermath of air strikes, shelling or explosions in territory that is held by rebels.
Jordan had authorised the UN “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 … (‘White Helmets’) and families,” Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon tweeted.
White Helmets head Raed Saleh said the evacuees had arrived in Jordan after being “surrounded in a dangerous region”. They had been encircled in Daraa and Quneitra, he said.
Britain’s Foreign Office said it and “international partners” had helped facilitate the evacuations.
“White Helmets have been the target of attacks and, due to their high profile, we judged that, in these particular circumstances, the volunteers required immediate protection,” it said.
“We therefore took steps with the aim of affording that protection to as many of the volunteers and their families as possible,” said the office.
A German diplomatic source said Berlin would accept several of the evacuees, but did not provide a figure.
“Germany will participate with several international partners in taking in evacuated White Helmets,” the source said.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said she had “called for global leadership to support and help these heroes” at the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit last week.
The White Helmets have rescued thousands of civilians trapped under the rubble or caught up in fighting in battered opposition-held zones along various fronts of Syria’s sevenyear conflict.
Since its formation, when Syria’s conflict was nearing its third year, more than 250 of its volunteers have been killed.
The group’s motto — “To save one life is to save all of humanity” — is drawn from a verse in the Q’uran, although the White Helmets insist they treat all victims, regardless of religion. Some members have received training abroad, returning to instruct colleagues on searchand-rescue techniques.
The group receives funding from a number of governments, including Britain, Germany and the US, but also solicits individual donations to buy equipment such as its hard hats.
The White Helmets won an Academy Award in 2017 for best short documentary. A second film on the group, Last Men in Aleppo, was nominated for an Oscar in 2018.
The Israeli army said it evacuated the White Helmets overnight at the request of the US and European countries.
“The civilians were evacuated from the war zone in southern Syria due to an immediate threat to their lives.
“The civilians were subsequently transferred to a neighbouring country,” it said.
Israel has been sending medical aid to civilians who have fled the fighting in the part of the Golan Heights that is controlled by Syria.
Israel seized 1,200km² of the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, in a move that was not recognised internationally.
On June 19, forces of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad launched a Russia-backed offensive to retake Daraa and Quneitra provinces. Regime forces have regained control of most of these two provinces.
Russian aircraft bombarded a holdout of the Islamic State (IS) group in Daraa province overnight, a Britain-based war monitor said. More than 20,000 civilians have fled bombardment on the IS-held corner along the border with Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan in the past 24 hours, fleeing into regime-held areas, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.