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

By Dilara Hamit

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.

Nadav Markman, the deputy ambassador of Israel, said bilateral cooperation is exceptional from the moment the disaster hit the region.

"The people, the governments started to get ready to send aid and the cooperation from the people on the ground. The rescuers working shoulder by shoulder, Israelis and Turkish, and the local governments ... cooperation was 100% at all times," he said.

He said the Israeli teams were one of the first ones to be on the ground, noting that they rescued 19 people alive from the rubble of collapsed buildings, and treated hundreds of others in the field hospital they set up in Kahramanmaras, the epicenter of the quakes.

"We sent 45 planes in total, with over 400 tons of aid by Mashav, the Agency for International Development Cooperation by the country's Foreign Ministry, and other civil society organizations. This donation of over 600 tents to AFAD is by Mashav, Israeli Embassy in Ankara, and IsraAid in the JDC (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee).

"I'd just like to say that, you know, our hearts are with the Turkish people at this time. We will continue to be here and to assist as much as we can. We're here to also help the local economy at this difficult time ... we will do everything we can to assist the Turkish people," he said.