The State of Palestine’s urgent intervention and response team began today its rescue mission in the areas badly hit by the tragic earthquake in northwestern Syria, according to Palestine’s Ambassador to Syria, Samir Al-Rifai.

Al-Rifai told WAFA that the Palestinian response team started its rescue mission in collaboration with the Syrian civil defense and rescue teams starting from the coastal town of Jableh, Latakia Governorate, and that the mission is now focused on search and rescue operations.

Palestine’s urgent intervention and response team left Ramallah yesterday for Turkey and Syria at orders from President Mahmoud Abbas, in order to support local and international relief efforts following the devastating earthquake, which so far claimed the lives of at least 22,000 people, the majority of them in Turkey.

Supervised by the Palestinian Agency for International Cooperation (PICA), the team is made up of the Palestinian Civil Defense, the Ministry of Health, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, and the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad Al-Maliki said in a statement yesterday that the State of Palestine was ready in all ways possible to provide a helping hand to Syria and Turkey in this calamity.

He said upon their arrival in the areas affected by the earthquake, the Palestinian urgent response team would be working with other international teams working in field hospitals, and will also participate in rescue and evacuation operations in coordination with the relevant authorities in the two countries.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency