The advance team of Israel's official earthquake relief delegation landed in Caracas on Wednesday and began coordination meetings with local authorities. According to social media reports on Thursday morning, search-and-rescue operations have begun using drone-mounted Israeli technology to locate survivors under rubble, though the official IDF statement had indicated operational activity would start only after completing preparations. IDF officers were seen at a hotel in the capital. The official death toll stands at 2,295 with more than 11,000 wounded and over 700 aftershocks recorded.
The advance team of Israel's official earthquake relief delegation arrived in Caracas on Wednesday evening, led by incoming Ambassador to Mexico Yoad Magen and Home Front Command deputy chief Brig.-Gen. Elad Adari. The delegation — the first official Israeli presence in Venezuela since ties were severed in 2009 — immediately began coordination meetings with local authorities and emergency services, according to an official IDF/Foreign Ministry statement.
While the official statement said that expert teams would begin operating only after completing preparations in the coming days, social media reports on Thursday morning claimed that search-and-rescue operations have already begun, using drone-mounted Israeli technology to locate survivors under rubble. The Zioneer has not independently verified these reports. IDF officers were seen at a hotel in the capital.
As The Zioneer reported earlier this week, the delegation follows the dispatch of a separate 16-person Israeli rescue team from NGOs Magen, Ready for Rescue, and SmartAID, which has been operating in the quake zone since last week. The official death toll from the earthquake stands at 2,295, with more than 11,000 wounded and over 700 aftershocks recorded.
6 developments
- DevelopingIDF vanguard of Israeli relief mission lands in quake-hit Venezuela
- DevelopingFirst Israeli rescue mission departs for Venezuela
- StrongIsraeli rescue team reports extensive, extraordinary destruction in Venezuela quake zone
- DevelopingVenezuela’s vice president says international rescue teams en route after earthquake
Source and signal
- Internal intake