About a year ago, the Bashan division of the IDF, which is in charge of the Golan Heights, decided to set up an organized humanitarian aid system, by erecting a special unit focused on this mission, headed by Lt. Col. A., who served in intelligence positions in the past, as well as in the Civil Administration in the Gaza Division and Judea and Samaria.

“We’re going to be invaluable to the local Syrians,” said Golan Division Commander Brig. Gen. Yaniv Ashur. “When other villages heard about the help we were providing, they also wanted to join in. In one of the villages, the aid from Israel received a religious seal of approval when the muezzin authorized alerted worshipers they can reach the border and receive help.”

Aid being sent to Syria – Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

From the logistics center to the rebel-controlled villages

The items are stored in a protected logistics center near the border. From there they are transferred and placed on the eastern side of the perimeter fence and later collected by the Syrians.

“We are in telephone contact with people in the Syrian villages, including local doctors and village heads, but also with those involved in certain professions, such as electricity, to which we transmit generators,” the IDF admitted for the first time on Wednesday.

Systemizing and streamlining the aid provided by the IDF to Syrian refugees is also reflected in the way the army communicates with the Syrians: For starters, the IDF speaks to the aid recipients directly and not through aid organizations or the UN. As such, flour is directly distributed to Syrian bakeries, and vehicles and mules are provided for transporting supplies.

A Syrian toddler treated at IDF medical center set up for Syrian refugees – Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

“In my studies in Britain, before I took up this position, I learned about the military power that existed in providing ‘soft means.’ (In addition—ed), the IDF Military Intelligence Research Department explained to me how much the Americans failed to achieve in the war in Iraq, due to their not taking care of the local population.”

IDF sources added: “One of the guiding principles here is maintaining continuity to create credibility on the other side. We supplied them with tons of flour, which reduced the price of bread by 50 percent, 80 percent. Once a week, a Syrian children’s bus arrives at the border for a day of medical treatment in Israel, which also includes fun activities for children and providing clothing.

Aid being sent to Syria – Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

Red Cross balks at assisting, but provides military funding

The aid project is funded mainly by foreign donations, with the IDF supplying some of the budget, mainly for the purchase of basic goods from the IDF food center and from funding the devices to the unit.

A wounded Syrian is carried by IDF troops to treatment – Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

Ashur noted that international aid organizations, such as the Red Cross and Doctors without Borders, have not been involved in the project, apparently over concerns that doing so would limit their activities in Turkey and Jordan.

“We found civilian donors like a wealthy Syrian expatriate who lived in Chicago, who provided donations through the Haifa Port. We’re looking to help the local population grow stronger and see the Shi’ite axis and global jihad elements weaken,” he explained.

Ashur added: “This plan will not guarantee the prevention of attacks from the border but will help restrain the area. We will continue our policy of non-intervention in the war.” There are currently two refugee camps near the fence, on the Syrian side of the border.

3,000 Syrians treated in Israel

Military medical sources said that the assistance given to Syrian refugees has not come at the expense of Israeli patients in Israeli hospitals.

“In total, 3,000 Syrians have been treated so far, about 70 percent of whom are men (aged 20 – 30), in addition to 1,000 children who have been hospitalized for treatment and a respite over the past year. None of them have wanted to stay in Israel thanks to the assistance we provide their villages. We (also) supply insulin to one hundred Syrian diabetics. ”

A wounded Syrian is carried by IDF troops to treatment (Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

In two weeks’ time, a new IDF clinic will be set up on the border with Syria, located in an old IDF post on the eastern side of the security fence. The IDF will provide the infrastructure, but the doctors, responsibility and funding will be provided by the US. This is in addition to the medical equipment transferred from Israel to the medical centers that were damaged in the Quneitra city area.