As death tolls continue to rise during the brutal Syrian civil war, 1.9 million refugees (including 1 million children) are fleeing their
decimated country. It was revealed that Israel is quietly coming to the aid of the injured—escorting hundreds of Syrians across dangerous
terrain for lifesaving treatments in Israel.
Most of the Syrian patients clandestinely brought into Israeli hospitals are men between the ages of 20 and 30, who arrive wounded
and unconscious. At Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya, on the Mediterranean coast near the Lebanese border, doctors say these
injured victims wake up after several days not knowing where they are.
When they learn they are in an Israeli hospital they are shocked. After all, Syria and Israel have been in a state of war since 1948.
Children have been transported to these hospitals in large numbers recently, many with critical wounds from shrapnel or explosions. Some
as young as three years old have received world-class medical care before returning with their parents to Syria.
Israeli treatment is the only hope for many of these children to survive their injuries. One 3-year-old girl cried for her mother as an
unfamiliar nurse comforted her in her hospital room, her face blackened by what doctors deemed was likely an explosion from a
firebomb. Another girl, 13, has been recovering for more than a month from injuries requiring complex surgery to her face, arm and leg. She
and her brother had gone to their village supermarket when a shell struck, killing her 9-year-old sibling.
It is unclear exactly how the injured Syrians are transported into Israel or how they cross back into Syria after treatment, other than
the fact that Israeli military personnel are coordinating the operations. Both doctors and patients are careful not to reveal the
identities of patients and their families to the press, to protect their identities upon returning to Syria.
Defying policy for humanity
Israel’s northern neighbor has been a sworn enemy of Israel for decades. Syrian youth are taught anti-Israel propaganda at a young
age. Yet for Israelis, as Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon asserts, the treatment of wounded Syrians is done on a humanitarian basis.” Dr.
Masad Barhoum, an Arab Christian citizen of Israel and the director general of the Western Galilee Hospital, says he is proud of the
expert treatment his staff has provided and equally proud to be a citizen of a country that allows him to treat every injured individual
with equal care and attention.
Though Israel maintains a policy of non-interference in Syria, voluntary aid groups have been able to help Syrian refugees in Jordan
and Turkey by providing them humanitarian aid. According to Knesset Member Ayoub Kara, Israel’s medical treatment of injured Syrians is
simply an expression of human values. “It is important for us that when there are big problems in our neighbor states, we are helping.”
