United Hatzalah announced that it will send a team of its medics to Sydney, Australia, on Sunday to assist local authorities following the terrorist attack targeting a Chanukah gathering in the Bondi Beach area that claimed 11 lives.
The delegation will be led by senior members of United Hatzalah’s Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit and will provide support to the Jewish community and the wider public affected by the attack.
The team will include experts in multiple disciplines and with extensive experience responding to terrorist incidents and large-scale disasters.
United Hatzalah, Israel’s largest volunteer emergency medical service, said on Sunday it stands “united with the Australian Jewish community and the families of those killed or injured in today’s attack.”
“Our mission has always been to save lives in Israel, but when called upon to help others around the world, our volunteers have always responded,” said United Hatzalah President and founder Eli Beer.
“When tragedy strikes, borders do not separate us. We are preparing to send our experts to Sydney to help the Jewish community and to support the local authorities in the aftermath of this terror attack,” he said.
United Hatzalah has deployed specialized teams to major crises, including the Surfside condominium collapse near Miami in June 2021, earthquakes in Morocco and Turkey, and the humanitarian emergency in Ukraine following the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war in February 2022.
The organization has also responded to terrorist attacks abroad, including the Tree of Life synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh in October 2018.
“We are deeply shaken by the murderous attack that struck the Jewish community in Australia,” said Linor Attias, head of the United Hatzalah delegation to Australia.
“As a nation with extensive experience confronting terror and trauma, and out of profound solidarity with the many supporters of our organization within the local Jewish community, we view it as our highest duty to dispatch a professional delegation within the coming hours,” he said.
