The director of a hospital in northern Israel has appealed to the leaders of Lebanon in Arabic to allow them to help treat the victims of Tuesday’s devastating blast in Beirut.
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Speaking in Arabic on Army Radio on Wednesday, the Head of Galilee Medical Centre in Nahayira, Dr Masad Brahoum said: “We only want to give a helping hand.
“Whoever comes will get treatment and will leave healthy and whole.”
Israel and Lebanon do not have diplomatic relations.
Lebanese officials reacted to an official Israeli offer to send humanitarian aid sent through international channels on Tuesday night, saying: “We do not take aid from an enemy state.”
A pair of explosions rocked the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Tuesday, leaving at least 100 dead and more than 4,000 injured, according to figures supplied by the country’s health minister.
The cause of the blasts is yet to be determined, but Lebanese officials say it was accidental.
Scenes of the damage were broadcast across the world, leading to an outpouring of grief, with several countries offering to assist Lebanon in its recovery efforts, including the U.S., France, Iran, and the Czech Republic.
Some of the countries have offered help to Lebanon in the form of sending rescue workers specialised in rescuing people buried under rubble.
Abbas Ibrahim, Lebanon’s internal security chief, said the ferocity of the blasts was likely caused by the nearby presence of ammonium nitrate, which he said the government had confiscated from a ship in the city’s port several years ago.
Witnesses said they saw a cloud of orange-colored smoke coming from the site of the explosion, an occurrence consistent with explosions involving nitrate. Ammonium nitrate is often used in bomb-making.