The Israeli army was preparing to send a rescue mission to Nepal
Sunday that includes 260 people who will fly to Katmandu and set up a
field hospital there.
The military delegation from the Home Front command
has three tasks: to search for survivors of the earthquake and to
operate a rescue team; to set up a field hospital to provide medical
assistance to the injured; and to establish contact with the Israelis
who have been incommunicado.
Forty doctors and about 80 members of a medical
team will operate the military field hospital, which will include
operating rooms, X-rays, an emergency room, a room for expectant mothers
and more. Three rescue teams, each of them with 20 rescuers, will also
be included in the military delegation, as well as three dogs from the
Oketz canine special forces unit and their handlers.
The delegation will bring with it 95 tons of
equipment for 14 full days of operation. It will take off this evening
from Ben Gurion International Airport for Kathmandu in two El Al Boeing
planes. One will be a transport plane and the other a passenger plane
that will also carry equipment.
"We plan to take off at 10:30 P.M., due to the
travel time and the weather in the Kathmandu area," said the delegation
commander, Col. Yoram Laredo.
The Foreign Ministry says it estimates around 600
Israelis are in Nepal, and has secured contact with 400, most of them
sheltering at the embassy in Kathmandu.
These include 25 couples in Nepal to bring home babies born to surrogates.
Of the nearly two dozen countries whose citizens were in Nepal at the
time of the earthquake, Israel has the third highest number of citizens
there after India and South Korea.
Nepal is a very popular post-army destination for Israelis....
Israeli-based humanitarian organization IsraAID is also responding
to the crisis in Nepal, coordinating with government officials, UN
agencies and other international groups to provide assistance to the
Himalayan country that is still reeling from aftershocks.
IsraAID is dispatching a disaster team to Nepal on
Sunday to provide relief supplies and medical services, the group said
in a statement. It also plans to set up "child-friendly" spaces and send
psychologists to the disaster-stricken area.
"We already have an emergency team in place and
hopefully we'll put them on a plane later," the group's Founding
Director Shachar Zahavi told Israel National News on Sunday. "Just like
in Haiti and in other places we have worked, it has medical aspects,
opening up field hospitals parallel to those of the IDF. Of course, like
in Haiti, we'll do anything in our power to coordinate our efforts with
the IDF and the Israeli government."
There are other countries that are sending assistance, but I haven't seen any details on what they're sending.
Tonight at midnight, the #IDF will send a rescue and humanitarian mission with an Air Force aircraft to #Nepal .#NepalEarthquake
— Avital Leibovich (@AvitalLeibovich) April 25, 2015
Midnight is less than two hours from now and about four hours after the Sabbath ended.
Iranian using fake Israeli passport arrested in Nepal
An Iranian using a false Israeli passport was arrested by the Israeli embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal and turned over to Nepalese authorities.
The
man was reportedly planning a series of terrorist attacks against both
the embassy and Israeli tourists in Kathmandu, Channel 2 reported.
The man, who was arrested on April 13, was identified as Mohsin Khosravian. He was handed over to the Kathmandu police.
Security
officials at the embassy suspected the man, who was carrying a tourist
map of the Lazimpat area, was scouting the facility with harmful
intention.
...
He
hid his Iranian passport and used a fake Israeli passport instead when
arriving at the Tribhuvan International Airport on April 3.
Investigation found he used his original passport to enter Malaysia on
March 31 and apparently acquired the fake Israeli passport in Kuala
Lumpur.
Mohsin claimed that after facing loss in his garment
business, he arrived in Nepal intending to go to Europe to seek asylum.
He was discovered when his Thai wife and two of his Iranian relatives
arrived in Kathmandu from Bangkok, where Mohsin has been residing for
five years.
I wonder how many Iranians and other terrorists are residing in third countries waiting to be 'activated.'
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com