A home in Fiji that was destroyed by Tropical Cyclone Winston in February. Photo: Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Israel has provided 12 portable solar generators to Fiji to help the Pacific island nation as it continues to recover from the destruction wrought by Tropical Cyclone Winston last February, the Fiji Times reported on Wednesday.

At a ceremony on Wednesday at which the generators were handed over to Fiji’s Agriculture Ministry, Yaron Sultan-Dadon — the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s Pacific Islands adviser who is based in Australia — said, “We feel it’s our duty to be here with our friends and family, for me it’s about family. In Australia when they ask me on the street where I am from, I say my village is Vuma Village in Fiji. This is the fourth time I’ve been here in Fiji and I already feel that I’m coming home. We are very excited about the partnership and the co-operation that we have been building together with our friend, the minister for agriculture.”

According to the Fiji Times report, Fijian Agriculture Minister Inia Seruiratu thanked Sultan-Dadon for Israel’s ongoing support of Fiji in the aftermath of the cyclone, which killed 44 people and destroyed around 40,000 homes.

Israel has a long history of providing post-disaster assistance across the world. In April 2015, as reported by The Algemeiner, Israel sent the second largest national delegation to assist Nepal following the massive earthquake sustained by the Himalayan mountain nation.

In recent years, Israel has also sent aid delegations to Japan following the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and to Haiti after its devastating January 2010 earthquake.