Israel has begun sending 100 tons of humanitarian aid, meant to assist people caught up in the fighting in Ukraine, the Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Sunday a plane carrying 100 tons of humanitarian aid will be sent to Ukraine in the coming days amid the Russian invasion, which is described as the biggest assault on a European country by another state since World War II.
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An El Al plane loaded up with humanitarian aid for Ukraine, March 1, 2022
(Photo: GPO)
An El Al plane loaded with dozens of cardboard boxes departed Ben Gurion Airport on Tuesday. The ministry said it is sending medical equipment and medicine, water purification systems, thousands of tents, blankets, sleeping bags and coats. The planes will land in Poland and the aid will be sent to Ukraine from there.
Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid were behind the decision, the ministry added.
Israel has repeatedly pledged its support for the people of Ukraine in the war, with Lapid saying in a statement Monday that Jerusalem will support a UN resolution condemning Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
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Protesters demonstrating against the Russian invasion of Ukraine in Tel Aviv
(Photo: Tal Shahar)
Despite Lapid's declaration, Israel has been cautious in joining the West in its condemnation of Russia, as it relies on Moscow for security coordination in Syria, where Russia has a military presence and where Israel over recent years has repeatedly struck weapons caches destined for its enemies and other targets.
Despite the government's cautious response to the crisis, thousands of Israelis took to the streets earlier this week in protest of Moscow's aggression toward Ukraine, many of them Ukrainian and Russian-born.
Municipalities across the country also showed their support for the besieged country, mainly by hoisting Ukrainian flags and voicing their support for Kyiv.