Israel helps evacuate hundreds of "white helmets" and families in Syria

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Israel facilitated the evacuation of hundreds of first aiders, known as White Helmets, and their families from a besieged pocket of southern Syria, helping them cross the territory Israeli to reach Jordan, Israel and Israel. The Jordanian authorities said on Sunday:

The movement in part of Syria, where pro-government forces are advancing, has pushed Western countries, including the United States, to protect White Helmets. air strikes in civilian areas.

The Israeli army said Sunday in a statement that the United States and European countries had asked for aid for the evacuation of civilians "because of an immediate threat on their lives. "

Ministry spokesman in Jordan Mohammad al-Kayed said that his country had authorized the United Nations to facilitate the entry of hundreds of Syrians to Jordan after Britain, the United States. Germany and Canada. Ayman Safadi, the Jordanian foreign minister, said on Twitter on Sunday that the initial demand had been for 800 Syrians, the evacuation took place while Syrian government forces, supported by Russia and the Russian Federation, said the report said. Iran, swept a strip of territory along Syria's southern border with Jordan, seizing areas that were destroyed. Long held by Western-backed rebels seeking to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Seven years after the beginning of the war, Mr. Assad took over the center of the country and reaffirms his control over his largest population centers. But much of the country remained in its hands, held by rebels, Turkey or Kurdish forces backed by the United States.

As the lines separating these zones solidified, a large number of people were displaced there. In addition to the evacuation of the White Helmets, hundreds of rebels and their families were bused from southern Syria to the north held by the rebels because they did not want to live. under the control of the Syrian government. Last week, thousands of members of the Syrian Shiite minority were expelled from two besieged villages in the north of the country, emptying them

The evacuation of white helmets reached the end of the Syrian government across the south from Syria. As the cities fell, hundreds of thousands of people fled their homes and many, including members of the White Helmets, found themselves in the narrowed pocket of rebel-held territory along the Golan Heights held by the Palestinians. Israelis. Syrian civil defense, white helmets, so called for their branded helmet, have been hailed in the West for their work of digging people out of the rubble after government airstrikes. The United States and other Western governments have funded their work, and a Netflix film, " The White Helmets," won an Oscar last year for the best short documentary.

Syrians will remain in a restricted area in Jordan until they are resettled within three months. Jordanian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that Jeremy Hunt, the new British Foreign Secretary, who recently replaced Boris Johnson spoke on Twitter to announce the evacuation : – UK and friends – have gotten the evacuation of the white helmets and their families – thank you Israel and Jordan for acting so quickly on our request. "

This was the second major evacuation in Syria last week.

The buses removed more than 6,000 people from two Shiite villages in the Idlib province in the north that were besieged by Sunni rebels for years.

Idlib now holds the largest portion of rebel-held territory in Syria Once Assad returns to the south, he will turn his guns to Idlib

More than two million people are present, many of whom are displaced elsewhere in Syria, and aid agencies fear that any military operation will be catastrophic because civilians will have nowhere to flee. The border of the province with Turkey, which kept its border closed.

The two Shiite villages, which contained civilians and fighters loyal to the Syrian government, had been besieged by rebel forces for years. Last week, an agreement was reached for their evacuation and transportation of their inhabitants to government-controlled areas further south in exchange for the release of about 1,500 detainees by the government

. "We were hoping for a military campaign to join us here, but unfortunately nothing happened and we are leaving," said Hussein Halaq, a Shiite villager, via a courier application. go. "Many have lost their homes and their future."

But some who remained in Idlib feared that the departure of the Shiites would be the way of the government to pave the way for a severe military attack, since it no longer had to worry about the damage. "They were like a map for us, urging the planes not to bomb civilians," said Mohammed Saeed, an anti-government activist in Idlib.