A joint aid delegation belonging to the IDF’s Home Front Command and the Israeli Foreign Ministry has been assisting cities in northwestern Honduras which were struck by the two hurricanes that blew through Central America last month.
Throughout the years, Home Front Command units have been dispatched to disasters of various kinds across the globe.
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An IDF Home Front Command officer assisting people left homeless in Honduras following storms Eta and Iota
(Photo: MFA)
Eta, a category four hurricane, hit the country at the beginning of November, and Iota, also a category four hurricane, hit the area about two weeks later.
Over three million Hondurans were affected by the storms, which killed some 100 people in the country.
More than 150,000 people have been left homeless due to the damage caused by the two storms.
This is a disaster of a magnitude the region has not known since Hurricane Mitch in 1998.
As part of the assistance, the delegation is using technological equipment developed in Israel.
For the past three days, the aid delegation has been charting the disaster areas, and their activities are concentrated on the cities which suffered the most damage.
The Commanding Officer of the National Rescue Unit, Col. (res.) Golan Vach noted that the 15 member delegation is comprised of reservists, experts in their fields with experience from similar situations that they have dealt with around the world over the past few years.
“The State of Israel and the Home Front Command will continue to assist in the aftermath of any disaster around the world that requires its experience and capabilities,” he stated.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he is “proud of the Israeli humanitarian delegation that is working around the clock in Honduras, following hurricanes Eta and Iota.”
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Honduran President Juan Orlando and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting in Brazil in 2019
(Photo: Reuters)
“On behalf of Israel, I wish to send our regards to the people of Honduras and President Juan Orlando,” he added.
Orlando himself stated that “it is not necessary to have the same language. The language of solidarity is universal.”
He thanked the “mission of the brotherly people of Israel that, in addition to assessing the damage caused by the storms, carries a message of hope to our people!”