Israel evacuates hundreds of Syrian 'White Helmets' in humanitarian effort

The evacuation was kept secret and began at 9:30pm.
By Seth J. Frantzman


Around 800 Syrians affiliated with the White Helmets and their families are being evacuated from Quneitra through Israel according to the IDF Spokeperson's Unit. The Syrian Civil Defense is a volunteer organization that has worked in rebel areas of Syria providing medical support during the Syrian conflict.

According to a Bild report published Saturday night by Paul Ronzheimer, Giorgos Moutafis and Julian Ropcke around 800 Syrians were transported across the Syrian-Israel border. “From there on to Jordan,” the article says. “They are members and families of the famous White Helmets.” Bild says that those evacuated will continue on to the UK, Canada and Germany.

The evacuation was kept secret and began at 9:30pm.” Minibuses took the families through the border in the “dark of night.”

The AP reported on Thursday that US officials had been “finalizing plans to evacuate several hundred Syrian Civil Defense workers.” A Syrian source familiar with the White Helmet operations in southern Syria said he was surprised to learn of the sudden evacuation because Jordan had not accepted the White Helmet volunteers to evacuate over the last few weeks.

The Syrian regime launched a large offensive in June that has retaken the rebel-held areas in Dara’a and Quneitra, bordering Jordan and the Golan.

The Syrian rebels agreed to a reconciliation with the regime Friday and their areas were mostly surrendered by Saturday night, leaving only a sliver near the border and within the 1974 ceasefire lines.

Many of the tens of thousands of Syrians who had fled the fighting toward the border began to return home or to take buses to the northern Idlib province where some of the rebels have agreed to go.

The request to receive the white helmets came from various members of the international community such as the United States and other European countries, according to the IDF Spokeperon's Unit.

According to Ronzheimer the evacuation was “still ongoing” after midnight. He tweeted that the UN was involved, although the full details remain largely unknown.