Cargo shipments en route to Israel’s field hospital in Western Ukraine. Photo: Sivan Shachor / Israeli Foreign Ministry

Israel on Thursday airlifted 17 tons of equipment for the construction of a field hospital in the western Ukrainian town of Mostyska to provide medical care and humanitarian aid to war refugees.

The cargo plane, operated by El Al Israel airlines, left for Poland and will then be transported to the Ukraine.

“The State of Israel is working to help the citizens of Ukraine who were injured in the war,” stated Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

The move comes after the Israeli government earlier this week approved the deployment of the $6.4 million field hospital, which will be operated for one month.

Israel reportedly coordinated the plans for setting up the field hospital with Russia, according to Israel’s Walla news, which cited two unnamed senior Israeli officials on Thursday.

Israel, which has acted as a mediator between Kyiv and Moscow, is understood to have updated Russia on the exact site of the compound to avoid any military strikes. Following the approval of the mission, Bennett this week informed Russian President Vladimir Putin about the field hospital during a phone conversation.

The field hospital operation has been dubbed “Kochav Meir” (Shining Star), in honor of former Prime Minister Golda Meir — who was born in Ukraine and has become a kind of local hero during the country’s defense against the Russian invasion. Meir also established Mashav, Israel’s agency for international development cooperation and a division of the Foreign Ministry, which is now heading the hospital project.

At the beginning of next week, a medical delegation led by Dr. Dudu Dagan, director of the government hospitals department at Israel’s Health Ministry, will leave for Ukraine to provide treatment to refugees. The medical hospital team will include 65 doctors, nurses as well as Foreign Ministry and Mashav staff.

The field hospital will be divided into several divisions, including a children’s ward, a maternity ward and delivery room, an emergency ward, a primary care clinic, an outpatient clinic, and a command center. Laboratory and imaging capabilities, including X-ray labs, will be available, as well as remote medical technologies pioneered by Israel’s Sheba Medical Center.