Israeli aid delegation, including military advisers, heads to quake-struck Venezuela

An Israeli aid delegation set off Tuesday to Venezuela to assist in the aftermath of the powerful earthquakes that struck the South American country, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The group, which includes both military and civilian members, will help share “Israel’s expertise and experience in emergency response to help those who need it most,” the ministry said.

It came as Venezuelan authorities reported that at least 1,943 people were killed in the quakes, with tens of thousands more still missing, believed trapped under rubble. A United Nations official has said preparations are being made for 10,000 possible fatalities.

The Israeli delegation includes engineering professionals and other experts from the Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command, as well as Foreign Ministry representatives. Experts from the National Emergency Management Authority are expected to join the group at a later stage.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar described dispatchment of the group as “a humanitarian act,” noting that Jerusalem and Caracas don’t have official diplomatic ties.

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“Aid to the people themselves in these difficult moments is not related to politics – this is a humanitarian act,” Sa’ar told visiting Latin American evangelical leaders, according to a statement from his office.

Israel’s highly trained search-and-rescue experts regularly respond to natural disasters around the globe. The IDF has in the past sent delegations of dozens of soldiers, complete with specialized equipment and medical gear, to help in disaster zones. The Foreign Ministry gave no indication of how many people were sent to Venezuela.

Ambassador Yoed Magen, who grew up in Venezuela, will lead the Foreign Ministry’s activities in the delegation, while the military delegation will be headed by Home Front Command Chief of Staff Brig. Gen. Elad Edri, the ministry said in an earlier statement.

Ahead of the delegation’s departure, Magen delivered a message in Spanish to the Venezuelan people.

From Israel to Venezuela.

An Israeli aid delegation departed today to assist authorities and communities affected by the devastating earthquake, sharing Israel's expertise and experience in emergency response to help those who need it most.

Ahead of the delegation's departure,… pic.twitter.com/GgecmvSjDV

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) June 30, 2026

“We will help as much as possible. We will share our knowledge, our experience, so that Venezuela can benefit from this,” Magen said.

Separately, a number of Israeli nonprofits said last week they were mobilizing to respond to the quakes. Locally, Venezuela’s Jewish community has opened synagogues and community centers to hundreds of frightened, homeless survivors.

Venezuela broke diplomatic ties with Israel over Operation Cast Lead in Gaza in 2008-2009, and under then-leader Nicolas Maduro, it has been one of the world’s most vocal countries in its opposition to Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terror invasion.

However, Israel has expressed hope for better ties with Caracas since the US captured Maduro in January.

Israeli disaster relief delegations provided rescue and medical services after an earthquake in Turkey in 1999, an earthquake in Haiti in 2010, a typhoon in the Philippines in 2013, an earthquake in Nepal in 2015, and an earthquake in Mexico City in 2017.

Three-year-old plucked from rubble as hopes fade for more rescues

Venezuela was hit by two earthquakes of magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, less than a minute apart, last Wednesday, toppling buildings and trapping thousands of people beneath the rubble, according to authorities and rescue teams.

Fatalities stand at 1,943, lawmaker Jorge Rodriguez said on Tuesday, adding that the number of injured almost doubled to 10,571.

Jordanian emergency workers rescued a child early on Tuesday, the only reported survivor on the sixth day of rescue efforts, according to Venezuelan authorities.

Klieber Moran was pulled from the Los Corales Garden 1 building in La Guaira state after spending six days trapped under the rubble, Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez said in a message via Telegram.

Video footage showed rescue workers cheering upon discovering the child, who had miraculously survived.

???????? Miracle in Venezuela.

Jordanian rescuers pulled 3-year-old alive from the rubble of a collapsed building.

SIX FULL DAYS after the devastating twin earthquakes.

HEROES!

Writer: Solpic.twitter.com/GVgbmHZgFJ

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) June 30, 2026

The boy received first aid and was immediately taken to the hospital, the Jordanian civil defense said in a statement. The infant’s vital signs were good, the statement said, adding that local authorities had been informed of the rescue.

In other footage, rescue workers could be seen wiping the boy’s face with tissues and tucking him in with a blanket in an ambulance.

Moran was described as three years old by Rodriguez, but as two years old by National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez.

“We must hold onto the hope of continuing to find people alive beneath the rubble,” Jorge said in a televised address. “Early this morning, a 2-year-old boy was rescued and is currently receiving care at a health center in Caracas.”

Tragically, rescue teams from Ecuador and the US halted operations in the early hours of Tuesday at a site in Macuto, a town in La Guaira, when they stopped receiving responses from a mother and her three children trapped beneath a nine-story building after more than 40 hours of trying to get them out.

“In the end, we believe the days have already passed and that what we will find now is death,” said Major Jorge Montanero, leader of the EQ11 team from Guayaquil, located on Ecuador’s Pacific coast.

“Unfortunately, things haven’t developed favorably,” he said as he stood amid rubble after cutting through four concrete slabs of the building in an effort to locate the four victims.

‘10,000 body bags’

Tens of thousands of people remain missing two days after the critical 72-hour survival window, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said in a statement. After that period, survival chances drop sharply.

“The scale of the response does not meet the scale of humanitarian need,” the IRC said.

A shipment from UNICEF carrying 47 metric tons of humanitarian supplies arrived in Venezuela on Tuesday, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, adding the equipment would help support children and families in need.

The shipment includes emergency health kits for urgent medical care, including supplies for safe births, newborn care, disease prevention, and treatment, Dujarric added.

Some 59,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed by the twin earthquakes, according to NASA estimates. The widespread devastation can be seen from space.

Not all collapsed buildings have had professional rescue teams on site, with relatives and neighbors working to remove debris to pull out survivors or bodies, according to residents from various areas.

“There is no doubt we are facing a figure higher than what has already been reported. I can offer an estimate: we are procuring — and this has been agreed with local authorities — 10,000 body bags,” Gianluca Rampolla, the United Nations’ resident coordinator in Venezuela, said on Monday from his Caracas office.