Israeli doctors covertly enter Syria with one goal in mind: saving Syrian civilian lives in danger.

Previously, United with Israel reported on treatment of Syrian civilians in IDF field hospitals along the Israeli-Syrian border and in hospitals inside Israel itself. Despite a lack of diplomatic relations with Syria, Israel continues to take these measures, refusing to stand idly by as hundreds of thousands of people are massacred. What many don’t know is that in addition to assisting Syrians who manage to cross the border into Israel, Israeli doctors are risking their lives by entering into Syria, Jordan, and other places, in order to assist Syrian refugees.

Canada’s National Post recently reported on a group of Israeli doctors, humanitarian workers, and medical clowns, who enter refugee camps to bringing badly needed food and help wounded Syrian civilians. All of this work must be done clandestinely, since divulging the identities of aid workers or those they assist would place these individuals in grave danger. For this reason, Israeli doctors who return to Israel for visits never speak about where they have been working.

Assistance is also arriving from IL4Syrians, which is “a group of Israeli citizens who love their homeland and believe in a tradition and culture that values a compassionate, open-minded respect for the sanctity of human life and dignity. We believe we are blessed to be born in a democratic country that enables its citizens to travel to challenging and dangerous places.” IL4Syrians assists Syrian refugees based on the principles set out in the Jewish Bible, or Tanakh as it is called in Hebrew. Isaiah 1:16-17 emphasizes, “Devote yourself to justice, aid the wronged, and uphold the rights of the orphan.”

IL4Syrians has identified a variety of Syrian refugee needs that aren’t being addressed properly. For example, Syria and neighboring Arab countries don’t have the means and lack the will to adequately help Syrian rape victims. Syrian refugees also suffer from severe, untreated post-traumatic stress disorder, in addition to a series of physical ailments resulting from the rampant violence within the country and the systematic torture committed by the Assad regime against innocent civilians.

By entering Syria and providing badly needed medical care and supplies, Israeli doctors associated with IL4Syrians address the humanitarian issues Syrian refugees face. Israelis are perhaps best situated to fill this role within the international community, since they can cross the border to assist refugees, even when this means risking their lives without a word of thanks.

By Rachel Avraham, staff writer for United With Israel