(Jerusalem Post) Anna Ahronheim - Israel launched a new project dubbed "Operation Good Neighbor" in June 2016 to increase civilian aid for Syrians. Brig.-Gen. Yaniv Ashur said, "We have learned from the Americans who lost the Iraqi population. We realized that we could do more for the population near our border than what we were doing at the time." The IDF is working with international organizations and donors to transfer aid to over 200,000 Syrians living close to the Israeli border. In the past year alone, the IDF has given to Syrian civilians over 360 tons of food and flour, 456,000 liters of gas, 100 tons of clothes (55 tons of warm clothes), 12 tons of shoes, as well as generators and mobile caravans to use as clinics or classrooms. Additional aid included 12,000 packages of baby formula, 1,800 packages of diapers, and 600 meters of piping to re-establish ruined water infrastructure, giving 5,000 people running water. This is in addition to the over 3,000 wounded and sick Syrians who have been treated in Israel since 2013. "Once a week a busload of sick children comes into Israel," Ashur said.
2017-07-20 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive