TEL AVIV — As social media activists accuse Israel of “genocide” and “indifference to human suffering,” Israeli doctors and soldiers are doing the exact opposite — saving lives around the world.
In the past nine months alone, Israel has deployed emergency aid to four continents, racing to disaster zones in Jamaica, Thailand, South Sudan, and Cyprus. Officials say the country’s humanitarian outreach this year continues a decades-long record of showing up first — and often staying the longest — when catastrophe strikes.
“The IDF values human life and helps those in need, regardless of their location,” reads a 2025 IDF humanitarian report.
Israel’s Global Footprint in Disaster Relief
In October 2025, the Israeli NGO IsraAID joined Chabad of Jamaica just hours after Hurricane Melissa tore through the Caribbean island. Together they installed clean-water systems, distributed food, and offered trauma counseling to hundreds of families.
“IsraAID is proud to be able to build on our regional presence and expertise to launch an urgent response,” said Michal Bar, the group’s Senior Director of Emergency Operations.
Earlier this year, Israeli rescue teams were among the first foreign units to land in Thailand after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake near the Myanmar border in March. The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli specialists brought advanced search-and-rescue gear and established a mobile medical center within 24 hours.
In August, the Foreign Ministry shipped emergency medical kits and hygiene supplies to South Sudan to fight a fast-spreading cholera outbreak. That followed firefighting assistance to Cyprus, where Israeli planes dropped water over massive wildfires threatening entire towns.
A Practice That Goes Back Decades
Since 1953, Israel has conducted 37 humanitarian missions abroad — from Haiti to Nepal, Japan, Greece, and beyond. The IDF’s “Olive Branches” delegation rescued 19 people from the rubble of Turkey’s 2023 earthquakes and treated nearly 500 patients in a fully operational field hospital.
Israeli officials emphasize that the same army accused by critics of “occupation” has in fact rescued tens of thousands of non-Israelis in the past half-century.
“Can anyone argue that the same country which saves lives worldwide is guilty of systematic murder?” columnist Cookie Schwaeber-Issan wrote in the Jerusalem Post.
Healing Beyond Borders
Even inside Israel, humanitarian compassion crosses every line of conflict. The organization Save a Child’s Heart, based at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, has treated over 6,000 children from 65 countries, including 3,000 from Gaza and the West Bank.
A 2022 Times of Israel report quoted one Gazan mother who said Israeli doctors “can be trusted completely” after they saved her son’s life during open-heart surgery.
The Bottom Line
While Israel’s critics shout slogans, Israel keeps saving lives — in disaster zones, hospitals, and war zones alike. A country that delivers clean water to hurricane victims and heart surgeries to Gazan children cannot credibly be called genocidal. The IDF values human life and helps those in need, regardless of their location.” — IDF Humanitarian Missions Report, 2025
