Israeli aid mission leaves for Haiti; death toll estimated at 50,000
220-strong IDF delegation, including large medical staff, will set up field hospital in Port-au-Prince.
By Barak Ravid, Reuters and Anshel Pfeffer Tags: Israel news IDFThe Israel Defense Forces' aid mission to Haiti left Israel overnight Thursday with equipment for setting up an emergency field hospital. Around 220 soldiers and officers are in the delegation, including 120 medical staff who will operate the hospital in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.
The original plan was for the IDF to first send a Home Front Command rescue team, followed by medical teams.
But after contact was made with the Haitian authorities, the army and Foreign Ministry decided that the Caribbean country's most pressing need was extra medical staff. Nearly every hospital in Haiti was destroyed in Tuesday's earthquake.
The mission includes 40 doctors, 20 paramedics and 24 nurses, as well as medics and medical technicians. Around a third of the delegation is made up of reservists who were called up specially for the mission.
The IDF's chief medical officer, Brig. Gen. Nachman Esh, said that while the field hospital will largely treat trauma patients, similar to those encountered in a war, specialists in various other fields have also been sent.
"We expect to have to deal mainly with trauma cases, but when we arrive there, we also expect to encounter the secondary wave of infections and diseases, as well as the routine cases that the local hospitals would usually deal with," Esh told Haaretz.
Over the past 12 months, the IDF's medical corps has been working to reestablish the field hospital unit that was disbanded nine years ago as part of cost-cutting measures.
Planes full of supplies headed to the Port-au-Prince airport on Thursday, but they arrived faster than ground crews could unload them. Aviation authorities had to restrict non-military flights from U.S. airspace because they feared the planes would run out of fuel while waiting to land.
Relief groups are trying to address immediate needs such as clean water and medical supplies.
Desperate Haitians have set up roadblocks with corpses in Port-au-Prince to demand quicker relief efforts after a massive earthquake killed tens of thousands and left countless others homeless.
More than 48 hours after the disaster, tens of thousands of people clamored for food and water and help digging out relatives still missing under the rubble.
The Foreign Ministry has called for donations to Haiti at phone number 02-659-4222, or to account 50909 at Bank Hapoalim branch 690.
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You allege that Ethiopians are not allowed to go to school with "lily-white" Ashkenazi students (your description, Ashkenazim can often be very dark skinned). It is true that A FEW private religious schools in Israel declined accepting very recent Ethiopian immigrants (partly out of concern that they weren't getting adequate funding to teach them from the state to deal with language teaching and special needs)and this was protested against by nearly all segments of Israeli society, but the fact is that overall, Israeli students of Ethiopian Jewish heritage learn alongside Israelis of every other background.
I donated to the plight of the Haitians thru UNICEF. I'm not worried about what some other country is giving. I note that Welsh rescuers have arrived already. That's good. Israelis are on the way; that's good too.
I thought this article was about the people dying in Haiti. What was I thinking? I don't agree a lot with David in Haifa, but he right as rain on this.
yet the propgandists cannot stop practicing their miserable craft.
the ethiopian jews who live in squalor and cant go to school with white jews cause they are not lily white ashkenazi khazar jews? tell me about how much you hypocrits care for haitians when you cant stand you own black jews?
How much help or money have Arab countries given towards the plight of Haitians?
Israel set up a field hospital in Gaza and Hamas prevented anyone from using it.
When is the Israeli aid mission scheduled to go?
This is about Haiti and helping those in need. Do not politicize here. Plus the terrorists who live in Gaza are our enemies and attack us almost daily. They deserve whatever punishment we give them. Now!! My thoughts and prayers to Haiti and her people. Mah Haval (what a tragedy)... oy I shudder when I think of all the children hurt... and families destroyed. Whole generations...
b;galil dose not know that gaza under closer by israel and not aloud to any thing to enter gaza include medicines
Israel still receives Gaza patients to its hospitals for special treatments on a regular basis. Furthermore, Hamas regularly raids humanitarian aid trucks at war times.
Instead of using the hundreds of millions in money from EU and others to buy, build and shoot rockets at Israel, Hamas should build a hospital and take care of their people. People who are blaming Israel are looking for scapegoats to the lack of leadership among Palestinians in Gaza. They don't care about their people.
Sending 220 strong team to Haiti is a great thing. Haiti needs all the help it can get and its one of the poorest nations in the world,the poorest in that region. Just wish that Israel would show the same humanitarian heart for Gaza.They will win the hearts of Haitians now but they desperately need to win the Gazans hearts if they truely want to end this conflict.
for some cretin to write that the Israelis are stealing organs? Of over 50 Muslim countries, I wonder how many will be sending the Haitians what they now require
Yeah, so I'd like to rub this article in the face of everyone that previously commented how Israel is only going to Haiti because there were 4 Israeli's missing. Well 125 doctors and nurses is a lot to cure 4 people isn't it.
What a joke! how about helping the next door poor people in Gaza who are in desperate need for help! how about lifting the siege off more than 1.5 million people in Gaza! This is pure show off by Israel in front the world.
Why can Israel send 100s of helping hands, medical staff, and supplies 1000s of miles around the world - but not send the same needed people and supplies 10s of miles to neighboring Gaza? What is wrong with this picture?
Jane, I have determined that Turkey and Jordan are sending help to Haiti. I can see why ideologues in Israel would desire to hide this information. But then why did they censor my first observation that yesterday morning I had seen no evidence of munificence or compassion by Muslim governments? The facts are simple yet some how deniable. Why?