Trudeau asked Israel to rescue White Helmets from Syria: Netanyahu
Posted July 22, 2018 10:41 am.
Last Updated July 22, 2018 11:15 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Justin Trudeau was among those who personally asked that Israel evacuate hundreds of so-called White Helmets from Syria amid fears they would be attacked by government troops.
Netanyahu revealed the conversations with Canada’s prime minister, U.S. President Donald Trump and other world leaders shortly after the dramatic overnight rescue, which saw the Israeli military help 800 people flee from rebel-held areas in Syria to nearby Jordan.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has pledged to support the humanitarian workers and first-responders, and Canada is one of three countries that have reportedly agreed to take in some of the White Helmets and their families.
Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Kayed says the Syrians will remain in Jordan for three months before moving on to Canada, Britain and Germany.
The White Helmets have been one of the few glimmers of light during the bloody and savage war that has ravaged Syria since 2011, leaving 350,000 people dead and millions more displaced.
Canada previously resettled 25,000 Syrian refugees between September 2015 and February 2016.
