BICOM

The Israeli military evacuated hundreds of Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets and their families from southern Syria on Saturday night.

422 volunteers and family members were taken to Jordan via the Golan Heights in what the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) described as an “exceptional humanitarian gesture” following a request from the US, UK and other European countries.

The White Helmets describe themselves as a volunteer workforce that acts to save people in Syria’s war zones. They became trapped in an area of southwestern Syria near the Israeli border after an offensive by the Syrian regime.

In a video statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “President Trump and also Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau, as well as others, requested us to help take out from Syria hundreds of White Helmets members. These people who saved lives were now under life-threatening danger. I therefore authorised for them to be transferred through Israel to other countries as an important humanitarian measure.”

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt called the successful evacuation “fantastic news,” and thanked Israel and Jordan in a tweet for acting quickly following the request. The White Helmets, he said, “are the bravest of the brave and in a desperate situation this is at least one ray of hope”.

This morning sirens went off in the Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights. The IDF said after an initial investigation that rockets were launched as part of the internal fighting in the south and fell in Syrian territory. The IDF launched two interceptors of the David’s Sling aerial defence system, the first operational use of the system. No injuries or damage was reported.

Syrian news agency SANA reported that Israel bombed military targets outside of Masyaf, south-west of Hama city, on Sunday. According to the Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen news channel, the attack was carried out by Israeli jets firing missiles from Lebanese airspace.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the site was a missile warehouse used by the Syrian regime and that there was an Iranian presence there. Opposition sources claim the site is used to develop missiles and produce chemical weapons.

Israel has consistently voiced its concern that Iran’s growing presence in Syria poses a threat to its security and has struck bombed Iranian and Iran-backed positions in Syria over the course of the seven-year conflict.