‘Our hearts are with the Turkish people’: Israel ready to assist quake-hit Türkiye for as long as needed

ADANA, Türkiye (AA): Israeli officials say the country will be supporting Türkiye, where the Feb. 6 twin earthquakes killed 45,000 people and left behind a trail of destruction, for as long as needed.

Israel was among the first countries that helped Turkiye with search and rescue efforts after the devastating earthquakes. The Israeli government and civil society organizations sent more than 400 tons of aid supplies, 400 personnel and a field hospital.

Karmit Berlinsky, a senior emergency operations officer with IsraAid, an Israel-based non-profit organization, said their teams were deployed to the disaster zone just a day after the quakes, and brought aid supplies, water filtration systems, hygiene kits, sleeping bags, and mats.

“We plan to stay for as long as we are needed here and that we can contribute. We have been deeply, deeply moved by the strength of the Turkish people and how they help themselves as well as their neighbors to overcome this tragedy,” she told Anadolu in Adana, one of the 11 southern provinces struck by the tremors. Israeli officials gathered here on Thursday to donate 600 tents to AFAD, Türkiye’s disaster management agency.

“Israel is really looking forward to continuing support for communities affected by this earthquake, for as long as we are needed here,” she said.