To avoid attack, Israel said to coordinate on its Ukraine field hospital with Russia
Jerusalem reportedly notifies Moscow of plans, giving exact coordinates in effort to ensure medical base is not hit; UN says Russia has carried out 43 attacks on hospitals
Israel has coordinated its plans to set up a field hospital in Ukraine with Russia, giving Moscow the exact coordinates of the base to ensure it is not attacked, the Walla news site reported Thursday.
According to the report, that cited two Israeli officials, Israeli Ambassador to Moscow Alexander Ben Zvi met last week with Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov to update him on the plans.
After the cabinet took the decision to establish the hospital, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett then raised the issue during a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Bennett has been trying to mediate between Russia and Ukraine.
Concerns over the possibility that the field hospital could be attacked were heightened Thursday when the UN said Russia had repeatedly attacked hospitals in Ukraine.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the UN Security Council Thursday that WHO has verified 43 attacks on hospitals and health facilities with 12 people killed and 34 injured.
The UN health chief decried the devastating consequences of war on the Ukrainian people who are facing severe disruption to services and medication and stressed that “the life-saving medicine we need right now is peace.”
In a virtual briefing, Tedros said “the disruption to services and supplies is posing an extreme risk to people with cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV and TB, which are among the leading causes of mortality in Ukraine.”
The WHO chief said displacement and overcrowding caused by people fleeing the fighting are likely to increase the risks of diseases such as COVID-19, measles, pneumonia and polio.
In addition, more than 35,000 mental health patients in Ukrainian psychiatric hospitals and long-term care facilities face severe shortages of medicine, food, health and blankets, he said.
Seventeen tons of equipment needed to set up the Israeli field hospital in Ukraine were loaded onto a cargo plane of national carrier El Al Thursday, the Health Ministry said in a statement.
The cargo will be flown later in the day to Poland and from there sent to the town of Mostyska in western Ukraine, where the hospital, dubbed “Kohav Meir” (“Shining Star”) will be set up.
A delegation of doctors led by David Dagan, chief of the State Hospitals Directorate at the Health Ministry, will fly out Sunday to staff the hospital. The delegation will include doctors and medical staff from across Israel’s health system, the statement said.
The government on Monday approved plans for the Israeli field hospital to be established in war-torn Ukraine, where it will operate for a month.
The NIS 21 million ($6.5 million) budget is to come from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Health Ministry and Foreign Ministry, as well as the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, a government statement said.
The facility will be operated by staff from Sheba Medical Center, Clalit Health Services and other hospitals, according to the Health Ministry.
The hospital will include wards for children and adults, an emergency room, a delivery room and a primary care clinic.
Representatives from the Foreign Ministry will also join the delegation.
Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz clarified last week that the hospital will be managed and manned exclusively by civilians.
The project is named after former prime minister Golda Meir, who was born in Ukraine and was the founder of the Foreign Ministry’s Agency for International Development Cooperation aid program, which is leading the field hospital project.
Kyiv-born Meir has become a symbol of hope for some Ukrainians amid Russia’s invasion.
Israel has already sent a 100-ton humanitarian aid package to Ukraine, which Russia invaded on February 24 in a military campaign that has met with fierce resistance.
The aid included medical equipment, medication, water purifiers, tents, blankets and sleeping bags, with additional aid to be provided in the coming weeks, the Foreign Ministry said.ion humanitarian appeal.
