‘’The commitment to the welfare of other human beings, regardless of the fact that they belong to an enemy nation, should be a source of pride to all Israelis,’’ said EU’s Ambassador-designate to Israel Lars Faaborg –Andersen after visiting the Ziv Medical Centre in Safed to observe at first hand the medical treatment being provided to civilians injured in the conflict in Syria.
"I want to thank the Director of the Ziv Medical Centre, Dr. Oscar Embon for this opportunity to see with my own eyes the wonderful treatment the hospital is providing to injured Syrians. I was deeply impressed by the dedication of the medical staff that is sparing no effort to provide the injured patients, many of them children, with the best possible medical care,’’ the ambassador said.
‘’We have all been horrified by the scale and intensity of the fighting in Syria,’’ he added.
Safed hospital is one of three in northern Israel that has been treating severely wounded Syrians on a humanitarian basis. Israeli doctors have been treating dozens of Syrian refugees as they flee the fighting and find their way across the border to Israel.
The IDF, which keeps a close watch on the Syrian border, shuttles the wounded Syrians by ambulance from the Golan Heights to the hospital.
“We have the responsibility of people who come to the border and need help to try and facilitate and give them humanitarian aid,” says IDF spokesman Lt Col Peter Lerner. “If it’s immediate medical needs, we treat them and send them back; if the situation is more dire, we take them to hospitals in Israel.”
The ambassador said the European Union has also mobilized to deal with the terrible humanitarian effects of the crisis.
‘’Two weeks ago the EU allocated €85m for Syrian refugees bringing the total humanitarian support so far to €400m. About half of this sum will be spent inside Syria to help civil society groups provide basic services while the other half will be used to help Jordan cope with the 500,000 Syrian refugees on its territory.’’