Israel evacuates White Helmets from Syria
The Israeli army evacuated representatives of the White Helmets humanitarian organization with their families from Syria, reported the spokesman of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Emmanuel Nahshon.
"Upon request of the US, Canada and European states Israel has completed a humanitarian effort to rescue members of a Syrian civil organization (“White Helmets”) and families. They were evacuated from the war zone in Southern Syria to a neighboring country, " Nahshon tweeted.
German newspaper Bild writes that the Israeli military evacuated about 800 people. During this "historic evacuation", human rights defenders and their families were taken to the Israeli border, and the Israelis, escorted by the police and UN representatives, transported them to the Jordanian border.
The Jordanian agency Petra writes that ,within the next three months, the evacuated Syrians will be taken to three countries: Great Britain, Germany and Canada. Until then, they will be in a special guarded place on the territory of Jordan under the care of the UN.
The White Helmets is an association of volunteer groups of rescuers who received support from international funds and European governments and were regularly trained by Turkish rescuers. The White Helmets had more than a hundred aid centers in the Syrian regions, which were under the control of the armed opposition.
The White Helmets reported attacks by the army of Bashar al-Assad, which resulted in the suffering of civilians. In particular, the organization provided data on the use of chemical weapons in Duma on April 7, 2018.