🌍 WORLD HUMANITARIAN DAY: Israel marked World Humanitarian Day by highlighting more than seven decades of humanitarian missions worldwide, deploying search and rescue teams, medical personnel, engineers and logistics experts to save lives, treat the injured and help communities recover from major disasters.
Israel’s first overseas humanitarian delegation was sent to Greece following the 1953 earthquakes. Major missions since then have included Mexico in 1985, where approximately 350 Israeli personnel assisted after the Mexico City earthquake; Türkiye in 1999, where Israeli teams rescued 12 people alive and treated approximately 1,200 injured; Haiti in 2010, where an Israeli field hospital treated around 1,110 patients and performed 317 surgeries; and Nepal in 2015, where approximately 270 personnel treated 1,600 injured, performed around 90 surgeries and assisted with eight births.
In Equatorial Guinea in 2021, Israeli medical teams treated 725 patients and performed 92 life-saving surgeries following explosions in Bata. After the 2023 earthquakes in Türkiye, Israeli teams rescued 19 people alive and provided medical care and assistance to approximately 180 others. In 2026, Israel sent around 50 personnel to Venezuela to assist with engineering assessments, search and rescue expertise and development of a national recovery plan. Together with the Israeli humanitarian delegation currently operating in Colombia, these missions form part of hundreds of Israeli assistance operations worldwide.
🇮🇱 SULTAN YACOUB MISSING RETURNED: IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir spoke with the family of Yehuda Yekutiel Katz following his return to Israel after 44 years.
Zamir told the family: “Today, a circle has been closed. After 44 years, the Battle of Sultan Yacoub has come to an end. All those missing from the battle have been returned to Israel. This is a special day for me, both as Chief of the General Staff and as a soldier of the Armored Corps. From the day I enlisted in the Armored Corps, I was raised on the legacy of that battle and on the moral commitment to bring all of our missing home. An entire nation stands united with you and shares in your emotion today.”
The family thanked Zamir for his words and for the efforts to bring Yehuda home for burial in Israel. They added that his funeral would unite the nation and would be held in a manner reflecting his unique character.
❌ TWO HAMAS TUNNEL ROUTES SEALED IN GAZA: IDF combat engineers sealed two additional Hamas underground tunnel routes in central and southern Gaza, east of the Yellow Line, with a combined length of more than two kilometers.
The tunnels were filled with concrete as part of efforts to clear the Israeli-held portion of Gaza of terrorist infrastructure. Sealing tunnels with concrete can be cheaper and less risky than destroying them with explosives, although the process takes longer. The IDF also released footage from the underground routes in both areas.
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