An Israeli who lives in Gabon, where there are about 70 Israelis: "There is not even alcohol or protection here, the health system is very problematic"
Itzik Koren, an Israeli who lives in Gabon, West Africa, spoke with Israel Today about the plight of Israelis working in the country and neighboring countries, and the desire of many of them to return to Israel following the state of health systems in the region, and their medical condition that places them at risk.
"In Gabon, there are several dozen Israelis, quite a few of whom are at risk," said Koren, "adults and people with background illnesses. In Israel, talking about hygiene, alcohol or protection for doctors, this is not something that anyone thinks of. And from all the testing they have done, it is spreading.
"If they do not extricate the Israelis from here we can reach a disaster. Gabon has about 70 Israelis. In Burkina Faso, Cameroon and other countries here in West Africa there are about a thousand more to my estimation. A lot of people here die from various infectious diseases. Dead, and anyone with money is facing a very problematic health system. "
Over the past weekend, airline crews continued, in cooperation with the foreign ministry established by the special forces to rescue the Israelis, in the challenging rescue operations. Over the past weekend, quite a few complex operations from remote areas, including three Israelis rescued from Cape Verde, the Ocean Islands group, also registered. Atlantic is scheduled to depart Israel from Nigeria to Israel, which is expected to have about 250 Israelis, and over the weekend, three rescue flights departed to return Israelis from Ukraine, Lithuania, Cyprus, and another flight returned by Israelis from Italy.
In recent weeks, thousands of Israelis have been rescued from all over the globe. Peru, Australia, Colombia, Lapland, Czech Republic, Costa Rica, Romania, Italy, India and a few other countries, Israeli aircraft of the three companies, EL AL, Israir and Arkia, landed and rescued remaining Israelis in some of the countries already quarantined.
Following Israel's appeal today, the Foreign Ministry contacted the Israelis in Gabon.