By Barry R.
A blast went off near the Syrian border in the Golan Heights killing a 15 year-old boy and injuring at least three including his father as they drove in the area. This marks the first time that an Israeli has been killed as a result of the three year Syrian conflict. Opposing government and rebel forces fighting over a nearby village may have contributed to the attack. The blast occurred near the Tel Hazaka post prompting an Israeli tank to return fire. The boy was traveling with his father, a civilian defense contractor who had been working on repairs on the security fence.
Although this is the first death reported on the Israeli side, several soldiers have been injured from stray shells and incendiary devices. Last March an explosive device detonated along the border fence not far from the Druze village of Majdal Shams. At the time four Israeli soldiers were wounded, one with serious injuries.
Such events however, have not stopped the flow of Syrians seeking medical attention in Israeli hospitals. This phenomenon has been going on since the beginning of the conflict where wounded civilians and even combatants have been receiving medical treatment in Israeli hospitals and then returned to Syria. It is of such note that even the Arab media Aljazeera has reported it. Noting that although Israel and Syria are technically at war and that “recovering the Golan Heights is a shared goal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the opposition,” and even though a roadside bomb wounded four Israeli soldiers, “still, Israel’s Military Medical Corp has opened its doors to the most seriously injured Syrian patients.”
In an interview with army doctor Col. Dr. Salman Zarka, the doctor relates how he “swore to give medical assistance to people in need” and established a field hospital near the Syrian border. Although some of those helped are civilians caught in the crossfire, Zarka explains, most are rebel and government fighters who are not able to receive proper medical assistance in Syria. He notes as one example a man he identifies as Ibrahim. “Ibrahim used to be an Assad regime officer,” says Zarka. “He told us very clearly, he used to think we are inhuman and now that we saved his life, he thinks different.”
The doctor who is a Druze citizen of Israel, is able to speak Arabic with his patients and place them at ease. Israeli paramedics patrolling the border actually seek out those who are in need of medical assistance, providing treatment. When that is not sufficient they are transferred to a field hospital while those in need of extensive surgery are brought to the Ziv Medical Center in Safed, about an hour away.
One of those treated, a civilian, tells how he was caught in a car crash that left him with a compound fracture of his leg. He explained that he could not return to his home since he would be stopped at the government checkpoints and that anyone with an injury would be treated as a member of the FSA, Free Syrian Army and shot. He then crossed over into Israel where he received extensive surgery and restoration to his damaged leg.
Dr. Shukri Qaisis explains that seeking aid from the Israelis can be a traumatic experience. “They are afraid,” says Qaisis. “We are the enemy.” He says he treats civilians and combatants alike and that the patients are grateful.
One of those treated says that they were deceived. For 40 years they were told that Israel is the enemy but all he sees are people who “want to live and do not want war.”
After they receive their treatment they are returned to their homes in Syria.
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