Israeli rescue teams head to Venezuela after administrative hurdles cleared

Israeli rescue teams from the IDF Home Front Command departed for Venezuela on Tuesday to assist with rescue and recovery efforts following last week's devastating earthquakes, expanding Israel's humanitarian response after administrative approvals were completed.

The deployment is particularly notable because Israel and Venezuela do not have diplomatic relations, requiring the National Security Council to review the dispatch of IDF personnel before the mission could proceed.

Speaking to a delegation of about 70 evangelical leaders from Latin America visiting Israel, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar highlighted the mission's humanitarian nature.

"We do not have diplomatic relations with Venezuela, but we sent a rescue mission including experts with the Home Front Command to assist in the rescue of those injured in the severe tragedy that befell the people of Venezuela," Sa'ar said.

"Aid to the people themselves in these difficult moments is not related to politics - this is a humanitarian act."

The delegation of evangelical leaders, invited by the Foreign Ministry, includes media, academic and religious figures from across Latin America. According to the ministry, the visit is intended to strengthen Israel's ties with its friends in the region, deepen participants' understanding of Israel and demonstrate support for Israel and the Jewish people.

Israel has already sent civilian humanitarian organizations, including IsraAID and NATAN Worldwide Disaster Relief, to assist in the relief efforts, as ALL ISRAEL NEWS previously reported.

Israel's Foreign Ministry has emphasized the urgency of the mission as rescue crews race to locate survivors while establishing infrastructure to provide shelter, food, clean water and medical care for displaced residents.

The confirmed death toll from last week's twin earthquakes has climbed past 1,700, while tens of thousands of people remain unaccounted for. Vast numbers of survivors have been left homeless, and concerns are growing about the spread of disease.

Nearly six days after the disaster struck, rescue efforts have increasingly shifted from searching for survivors beneath the rubble to managing the expanding humanitarian crisis.

The Foreign Ministry will send a diplomatic delegation alongside the Home Front Command rescue teams. The delegation will be led by Ambassador Yoad Magen, who grew up in Venezuela, while Brig. Gen. Elad Edri, chief of staff of the Home Front Command, will command Israeli forces on the ground.

Additional specialists from the Home Front Command and the National Emergency Management Authority are also preparing to deploy as needed, in coordination with international rescue teams and the relevant Venezuelan authorities.

The Venezuelan authorities have faced mounting criticism over their response to the disaster. Residents of some of the hardest-hit areas told international news agencies they had been digging through rubble with their bare hands while the government of acting President Delcie Rodriguez had done little to assist them.

Officials have also been criticized for visiting disaster sites briefly to pose for photographs with rescue workers before leaving without providing additional aid or making commitments for further assistance.

The crisis has been compounded by continuing aftershocks, including a magnitude 4.6 earthquake that struck about 27 kilometers (about 17 miles) north of Caraballeda on Venezuela's Caribbean coast, sending residents in the capital, Caracas, rushing into the streets for fear of additional building collapses.

According to NASA's preliminary satellite-image analysis, the back-to-back earthquakes destroyed or damaged approximately 58,870 buildings.

The United Nations estimates that as many as 6.8 million people have been directly affected, making it one of the world's largest and most widespread natural disasters in recent years.

Governments and humanitarian organizations around the world, including in Israel, are continuing to monitor the unfolding crisis in Venezuela as relief operations expand and countries assess how they would respond to a disaster of similar magnitude.