BICOM

Israel’s Prime Minister announced yesterday that ways are being explored to expand the medical assistance provided to wounded Syrians, particularly those from Aleppo.

Speaking to foreign journalists yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We see the tragedy of terrible suffering of civilians and I’ve asked the Foreign Ministry to seek ways to expand our medical assistance to the civilian casualties of the Syrian tragedy, specifically in Aleppo.”

He added: “We’re prepared to take in wounded women and children, and also men if they’re not combatants. We’d like to do that: bring them to Israel, take care of them on our hospitals as we’ve done with thousands of Syrian civilians. We’re looking into ways of doing this; it’s being explored as we speak.”

It is estimated that Israel has already treated around 2,600 Syrian casualties during the country’s civil war, either in field hospitals on the Israel-Syria border or in regular hospitals within Israel. The wounded Syrians arrive at the border fence, where IDF forces transport them for treatment.

Reflecting on the prospects of a resolution in Syria, Netanyahu commented: “Will it come together and be a unified Syria? I doubt it. I think you have enclaves there and they are not about to disappear.”

However, he said that “the suffering is great, and the one initiative we took is to help – as I said – thousands of Syrians who are sometimes mutilated beyond belief”.

He added: “We help them. I offered to do more today. I don’t know if we can resolve [the crisis in] Syria, but we can help mitigate some of the suffering. That is the best that Israel can do.”

Netanyahu also reiterated that Israel will not permit “spill-over into our territory” from the fighting in Syria. Errant fire has periodically landed in Israel, prompting a return of fire at government forces. Israeli forces patrolling the border have also on occasion been attacked.