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February 7, 2023 5:48 pm
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Israel to Set Up Field Hospital in Earthquake-Ravaged Southern Turkey

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avatar by Algemeiner Staff

The Israeli military prepares to send a medical aid delegation to southern Turkey on February 8, 2023, following a devastating earthquake earlier in the week. Photo: IDF

An Israeli medical aid delegation will depart for southern Turkey on Wednesday morning, as efforts continue to locate, rescue, and treat survivors of the devastating earthquake that struck the country on Monday.

The 230-member delegation will include doctors, nurses, and paramedics, as well as troops from the IDF Medical Corps and search and rescue personnel, the military said. They will establish a field hospital fitted with advanced equipment in order to provide medical assistance in the areas impacted by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake, which has left more than 7,000 people in Turkey and neighboring Syria dead, and many others injured and homeless.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday that the country was mobilizing search and rescue and medical teams to Turkey and Syria, following requests for aid. The first team, led by the IDF Home Front Command, flew to Turkey on Monday evening, followed by a larger 150-person humanitarian delegation that departed Tuesday morning.

United Hatzalah, an Israeli first response organization, also dispatched a 25-person team of volunteer doctors, paramedics, and EMTs, as well as psycho-trauma response and search and rescue personnel, to the epicenter zone in Turkey on Tuesday afternoon. The group said it sent some 20,000 pounds of medical equipment and humanitarian supplies to the disaster area.

Footage shared by one Israeli diplomat on Tuesday showed IDF personnel beginning a search and rescue operation. Crews are facing difficult weather conditions, including freezing nighttime temperatures, and extensive infrastructure damage in the race to locate and rescue survivors under the rubble.

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