Minors wounded in Syrian fighting brought to Israel

Two minors injured in Syrian fighting were transferred to a hospital in Israel on Wednesday.

The two boys, 9 and 15 years old, were transferred to Ziv Hospital in Safed for treatment. The 9-year-old suffered moderate injuries from shrapnel wounds across his body and lost his right eye, according to a report by Maariv. The 15-year-old was listed in serious condition, according to the report.

Dozens of injured Syrians have been treated by Israeli medics and doctors during the Syrian civil war, which has raged on the other side of the border since March 2011.

The Israel Defense Forces recently set up a field hospital near the border with Syria on the Golan Heights to treat and send back those wounded by the war. More serious injuries are sent to Ziv and other hospitals in the north for treatment.

Most of the wounded are adults, though Israel refuses to say whether they are rebels, fighters loyal to the ruling regime in Damascus, or bystanders injured in crossfire.

Earlier this week, a 13-year-old Syrian girl was treated at Nahariya’s Western Galilee Hospital, and last week a seriously injured 16-year-old was treated at Ziv Hospital.

The war has left over 93,000 Syrians dead according to United Nations figures, and over a million have fled the fighting as opposition forces attempt to oust President Bashar Assad.

Israel has yet to take in any refugees, but a number of Druze community leaders turned to the Prime Minister’s Office last week to request that members of their sect who left Israel to live in Syria be allowed to return.