The Israel Defense Forces’ Home Front Command expert delegation dispatched to earthquake-hit Venezuela continued its operations over the past week, the IDF said in a statement on Sunday.
As part of the mission, the delegation’s personnel conducted site visits, briefed residents on the condition of buildings, and carried out engineering assessments to enable the safe continuation of search, rescue and recovery efforts, the statement read.
In addition, implementation of the national earthquake recovery plan began. The plan was developed by a team of Home Front Command experts in Israel and approved by the president of Venezuela, the minister of infrastructure and the local team managing the project, the army added.
Israel extended the deployment of its humanitarian aid delegation for another two weeks after Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez asked Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar to keep the team in the country, the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem confirmed last week.
The mission is notable because Israel and Venezuela have had no diplomatic relations since Caracas severed ties with Jerusalem in 2009 following the Gaza war of 2008 and 2009 (“Operation Cast Lead”). Despite the absence of formal relations, Venezuelan authorities requested additional assistance, with Israeli experts contributing to a recovery strategy for regions devastated by the recent earthquakes.
The earthquakes’ death toll currently stands at more than 4,400, with over 16,700 injured, and more than 17,000 homeless.
