IDF Home Front Command, Foreign Ministry, sending delegation to Venezuela to aid in quake recovery

A joint delegation from the Foreign Ministry and the IDF, including the Home Front Command, is set to depart for Venezuela on Tuesday to aid in the response to the earthquakes that devastated the country, killing over 1,700 people and leaving over 15,866 homeless.

This follows a review led by the National Security Council of the coordination and integration required among the participating bodies.

Ambassador Yoed Magen, who grew up in Venezuela, will lead the Foreign Ministry’s activities within the delegation while Home Front Command Chief of Staff Brig.-Gen. Elad Edri will command the IDF delegation. 

Engineering professionals from the Home Front Command and representatives from the Foreign Ministry will also be joining the delegation, with additional experts from the Home Front Command and the National Emergency Management Authority expected to join later. 

The experts will coordinate with their Venezuelan counterparts to meet on-the-ground needs.

A separate Israeli search-and-rescue delegation has already arrived in Venezuela to aid in recovery efforts, comprising 16 rescue personnel along with other professionals from the Magen – Disaster & Emergency Management Company, Israel’s Ready for Rescue non-profit, and SmartAID. 

Since landing in Valencia, the delegation has begun to work alongside local forces on the ground to locate and rescue survivors and provide humanitarian aid where possible.

Miriam Sela-Eitam contributed to this report.