IDF soldiers treating a Palestinian man. Photo: wiki commons.

Israel has set up a mechanism to funnel aid to the Palestinians in the event of an earthquake, Israeli officials said on Tuesday.

A 5.5-magnitude quake rattled Israel and the Palestinian territories May 11, reminding residents of their common vulnerability along the Syria-Africa Rift, a northern extension of Africa’s Rift Valley, despite the deadlock in talks on founding an independent Palestinian state.

In the event of a major quake, Israel would host a UN aid distribution center to receive relief from abroad, by air and sea, for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

“The working assumption is that they (Palestinians) do not have the means to deal with such a disaster on their own,” said Alon Rozen, director-general of Israel’s Civil Defense Ministry, according to Israel Hayom.