Israeli rescue team leaves Turkey earthquake site over security concern
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Istanbul: Israel has suspended its earthquake rescue operation in Turkey. An Israeli emergency relief organisation, the United Hatzalah group, on Sunday, said that the team returned home due to a "significant" security threat to the staff.
The group posted images of the team assisting Turkish Red Crescent personnel near the quake's epicentre in Kahramanmaras on Saturday. They took an emergency flight back to Israel due to "a verified security threat," said the social media post.
"We knew that there was a certain level of risk in sending our team to this area of Turkey, which is close to the Syrian border. Unfortunately, we have just received intelligence of a concrete and immediate threat from the Israeli delegation and we have to put the security of our personnel first," said the group's vice president of operations Dov Maisel.
Over 24 medical personnel from United Hatzalah were in Turkey to help the survivors of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake.
Israel is not the first country to call their relief teams back. The Austrian army and German rescue workers have already suspended operations on Saturday due to security concerns. The German group ISAR said "reports of clashes between different factions" along the Syrian border are the reason. Shots were also fired at the site.