IDF delegation to the Philippines at Ben Gurion Airport, on November 13, 2013. Photo: IDF.

The Israel Defense Forces said its humanitarian mission treated 2,686 patients, including 848 children, in the Philippines, where the IDF has been operating field hospitals for two weeks to aid those injured by a major typhoon, as well as those needing urgent medical care for chronic conditions.

In a statement, the IDF said its troops would return to Israel on Wednesday. The delegation included medical professionals and Home Front Command search and rescue experts who focused on providing medical treatment and repairing damaged infrastructures, such as schools and water facilities.

The delegation returning to Israel will also include two Filipino children who will be transferred to the Schneider Hospital, in Tel Aviv, for further medical care. Upon the delegation’s arrival in Israel, a military ceremony will be conducted at the Ben Gurion International Airport, during which Hanukkah candles will be lit, the IDF said.

“The experts we brought are on the forefront of their fields in Israel the doctors, nurses, and medical staff here, left their homes, families, and jobs, immediately upon hearing there was a need…motivated by compassion and guided by the values of human dignity and friendship,” Col. Dr. David Dagan, commander of the IDF field hospital, said.

The IDF said, in addition to the many types of routine care that was provided, some 60 surgeries were performed, including cancerous tumor removals and eye surgeries, but mostly were for urgent life-saving procedures. In addition, the IDF Gynecological team was involved in approximately 36 births, it said.

Parts of the IDF medical and rescue equipment, including eight tents, generators, various medicines and an X-ray machine, will remain in the Philippines to be used by the German-Austrian delegation.