IDF establishes team to help troops suffering from record heat wave

The military says it is working on a response for troops suffering amid a heatwave, with the chief of the IDF Technology and Logistics Directorate, Maj. Gen. Mishel Yanko, establishing a “special team to handle the matter.”

According to the IDF, ahead of the heatwave, the chief safety officer of the Ground Forces, Col. Nir Yogev, directed the army to reduce the amount of training and make “the necessary adjustments” for the scorching weather, which has exceeded 40° C (104° F) in locations throughout the country.

“Due to the heatwave, malfunctions have accumulated; wherever a malfunction is reported, a team is dispatched to assist,” the army says.

Yesterday, the Sayarim base in the southern Negev Desert, near Eilat, suffered power outages, leaving trainees in 48° C (118° F) without air conditioning for hours.

The IDF says it has since evacuated most of the soldiers from the base, and before their departure, they were all moved to classrooms where the air conditioning was working.

To secure the base, the military says it has left behind a company of troops who are stationed in air-conditioned rooms where the electricity was repaired.

Despite this, Army Radio reports that soldiers at the base continue to seek medical attention at the base’s clinic for suspected heatstroke, and that there is no running cold water.

The army claims that ahead of the heatwave, the Technology and Logistics Directorate made “extensive preparations to provide additional support on the matter,” with IDF bases being bolstered with electricians and teams responsible for handling malfunctions.

Upgrades are being carried out to the air conditioning at Sayarim and at army bases in the Jordan Valley, which experienced similar high temperatures, the IDF says.

Troops operating in the Gaza Strip have also been supplied with kits that include a portable air conditioner and generator. There have been no complaints of malfunctions coming from troops in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria, the military adds.

The army says it has also prepared for fires, and equipped forces ahead of time with water tanks and fire-retardant materials.