Elad Benari ,(Israel National News) Under the direction of Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, Israel on Tuesday turned to Lebanon through international elements and offered the Lebanese government medical humanitarian assistance in the wake of the blast in Beirut which killed 50 people and injured thousands of others.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who approved the provision of humanitarian and medical assistance to Lebanon, instructed the head of the National Security Council, Meir Ben-Shabbat, to speak to UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov in order to find out what else Israel can do to help Lebanon.
Foreign Minister Ashkenazi commented on the explosion in Lebanon in an interview with Channel 12 News and said, “We are following the developments tonight in Lebanon. I see no reason not to believe the reports from Beirut that this was an accident that caused the fire.”
President Reuven Rivlin offered assistance to the Lebanese government as well, writing on Facebook, “We share the pain of the Lebanese people and sincerely reach out to offer our aid at this difficult time.”
The Ziv Medical Center in Tzfat announced that it is ready to receive people who were injured in the Lebanon blast, and the ZAKA organization has also announced that it is ready to take on any mission.
The Sheba Medical Center said on Tuesday evening that the Center for Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Medicine at the hospital contacted the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Health and offered medical assistance as needed to the victims of the explosion in Lebanon. The center has extensive experience in leading humanitarian missions around the world and dealing with areas hit by disasters.
Prof. Yitzhak Kreis, director of the medical center, said, “It is our duty to help everyone who needs it, and certainly our neighbors. We are prepared and ready for any task that is assigned to us.”
The head of the Arab media division of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, commented in Israel’s proposal to provide humanitarian aid to Lebanon and wrote on his Twitter account, “This is the time to rise above any conflict.”
