IDF is helping Venezuela in the longest humanitarian assistance mission in the history of the Home Front Command
Remarks by the Commander of the National Search and Rescue Unit and Head of the Emergency Mission to Venezuela, Brig. Gen. (Res.) Yossi Pinto:
We are currently in the area of greatest destruction in La Guaira, near Caracas, Venezuela.
The coastline here has sustained extensive damage. Hundreds of buildings have been destroyed, making this a complex and large-scale disaster.
We are now at the beginning of the mission’s third week of operations. Approximately 32 Israeli experts are working here, assisting the Venezuelan authorities in transitioning from the immediate emergency response phase to the rehabilitation phase.
Our primary effort is focused on offering the knowledge, experience, and capabilities we have accumulated in Israel and around the world. We are helping develop a national situational assessment, supporting decision-making processes, setting priorities, and laying the groundwork for the long-term rehabilitation effort.
This is a phase that will continue for many months and even years. Our goal is to provide them with the best professional tools available to help them address the complex challenges ahead.
We are working in close cooperation with the local authorities. They are highly receptive to the recommendations and insights we bring, and the fact that the Israeli mission continues operating here even after most international missions have already departed adds significant value to the overall effort.
I hope that our joint work and the tools we are leaving behind will help Venezuela address the rehabilitation challenge as effectively as possible in the years ahead.
