Damascus condemns White Helmet evacuation as 'criminal operation'
The Syrian government on Monday condemned the evacuation of hundreds of Syrian White Helmet rescue workers, calling it a "criminal operation" undertaken by "Israel and its tools".
The rescue workers and their families crossed out of Syria into the Israeli Golan Heights before arriving in Jordan over the weekend.
Israel said it had helped with the evacuation at the request of US President Donald Trump and other leaders—and there had been fears that the workers' lives were at risk.
The Syrian government has accused the White Helmets, also known as Syria Civil Defence, of being a Western-sponsored terrorist organisation. President Bashar Assad has called the White Helmets part of al Qaeda in Syria.
