Israel responds to earthquake in Nepal

 Israel responds to earthquake in Nepal

  • 4/30/2015
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    Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman spoke with Israel Ambassador to Nepal, Yaron Meir, and received from him an update on the situation there following the severe earthquake. FM Liberman instructed the Ministry to reinforce the embassy staff in Kathmandu as soon as conditions permit. Israel will send planes to evacuate Israeli from Nepal, and will extend all possible aid to Nepal.

    On Saturday evening, 25 April 2015, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held an assessment of the situation, via telephone, with Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon. It was agreed to dispatch - as soon as possible - a rescue delegation including medical aid. The delegation will land near the affected zone and make its preparations until it becomes possible to land in Nepal. Israelis in the affected zone will receive the means necessary to return to Israel.

    The Prime Minister sent a letter to Nepalese Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, and said that Israel was pained by the disaster that has befallen Nepal. He added that Israel is prepared to aid in rescue efforts and provide medical assistance. Prime Minister Netanyahu informed his Nepalese counterpart that an advance team would leave tonight and added that Israel was prepared to assist in searching for the missing and in providing medical care to the injured. The Prime Minister conveyed his condolences to the families of the victims and wished a full recovery to the injured. He declared that the State of Israel and its citizens stood alongside Nepal in this difficult hour.

    President Reuven Rivlin said: "Our thoughts and hearts go out to the people of Nepal dealing with this awful disaster, and with our loved ones who are in distress. The State of Israel is reaching out to help the search and rescue of the many victims."

    IDF Spokesperson: On Monday morning, April 27, an 80-member Israeli humanitarian aid delegation set flight for Nepal. They were joined in Nepal by another cargo flight with around 170 trained military personnel. 

    During the next two weeks, the IDF search and rescue teams will be deployed near Kathmandu to locate survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings. A field hospital will also be set up within 12 hours of arrival to provide medical services for the local population. It will have two operating rooms, four intensive-care rooms, 80 hospital beds and specialists in neonatal and adult care.The team will include dozens of army physicians in the regular army and the reserves. Col. Dr. Tarif Bader, the army’s deputy chief medical officer, will be in charge of the field hospital.

    IDF disaster team departs for Nepal
    Copyright: IDF Spokesperson
     
     







    Israeli teams in the field

     
     
     
    In the hours following the earthquake, Magen David Adom Director General Eli Bin conducted an evaluation of the situation and decided to launch an MDA humanitarian mission consisting of paramedics and doctors to Nepal. It was also decided to initiate the protocols for humanitarians missions as part of the Red Cross disaster response, which includes the preparation of special medical supplies ford prolonged activity in disaster stricken zones along with full coordination with relevant authorities such as a the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the IDF and the Red Cross movement.

    The MDA relief mission will consist of doctors, paramedics and members of the Operations Division of MDA. The mission will depart in the morning hours in a special plane chartered especially for the mission directly to Kathmandu. The plane will be outfitted with medical supplies medicine, baby formula, in order to reach the babies currently held up in the local Chabad center and also to establish a forward emergency response and treatment post for initial treatment in Nepal. Moreover, MDA is also continually preparing to send out an enlarged relief mission with further medical supplies and heavy equipment to further assist the victims.

    IsraAID has also dispatched teams to Nepal. While a second IsraAID team of 15 Search and Rescue specialists boards a plane to Nepal, the Advance Emergency Relief Team is already on the ground coordinating with the Nepalese and other foreign governments as well as the Israelis, UN agencies, and the international aid agencies. The team traveled to the outlying area of Gongabu, one of the worst hit areas in the capital. There, in cooperation with the Nepalese police and army, the team oversaw the removal of bodies from the rubble, and met with devastated families.

    Many of the districts surrounding the Kathmandu Valley remain unreachable, with roads blocked by an increasing number of landslides. With the arrival of the second team, both teams will travel to the Sindhupalchowk district, one of the worst hit areas, that has yet to receive almost any aid.

    In the coming days, IsraAID will continue to draw from its professional roster, built over 15 years of work across 28 countries, and send out additional teams of medical specialists and psycho-social professionals to assist national and international efforts to assist those stranded and in need.

    IsraAID team at work in Nepal
    Copyright: IsraAID