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אסון הצונאמי בדרום-מזרח אסיה The Tsunami Disaster In Southeast AsiaMinistry of Foreign Affairs Operations2.1.2005: 

אסון הצונאמי בדרום-מזרח אסיה The Tsunami Disaster In Southeast Asia Ministry of Foreign Affairs Operations 2.1.2005

The Early Hours: 

The Early Hours An earthquake measuring 9 on the Richter scale struck the Indian Ocean, close to Sumatra, Indonesia, on Sunday, December 26, 2004, at 3 a.m., Israel time. The quake caused enormous tsunami waves that traveled at a speed of up to 800 kilometers an hour. Initial reports and news reached the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Situation Center at around 7 a.m. By lunchtime, the tsunami-ravaged areas are declared by the countries of Southeast Asia as disaster areas.

Map of the region: 

Map of the region

Scale of the disaster : 

Scale of the disaster In total, 142,000 victims There were also victims in Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Somalia, Tanzania and Kenya. In addition, tens of thousands of people are missing, hundreds of thousands are injured and millions have lost their homes, with widespread damage to property.

Israeli victims: 

Israeli victims 4 dead 3 missing 30 are out of contact (were not found in the disaster areas). 33 injured

Situation Center Prepared : 

Situation Center Prepared Situation Center placed on an emergency footing from Sunday afternoon. Increase in staff Manning of 20 workstations (telephone and computer). Activating the Embassies in Bangkok and New Delhi, as well as the Consulate in Bombay, and placing them on an emergency footing (24 hours a day). Opening situation centers in the missions. Crisis centers, in order to respond to telephone calls from the public at the overseas missions. Opening an information resource. Tens of thousands of calls were received at the Situation Center. Eventually, it emerged that 2400 people were missing. .

Assistance to Israelis : 

Assistance to Israelis On-site Israeli crisis centers were established in the disaster areas: Thailand: Phuket (December 26) Krabi and Koh Phi Phi (December 26) India: Andaman Islands (December 28 – the first to arrive) South India (Madras/Chennai – December 28) Sri Lanka (December 27)

Assistance to Israelis: 

Assistance to Israelis Crisis Center Activities: Cooperation with the local authorities Using aircraft, helicopters and boats to locate Israelis Locating Israelis on the ground – hospitals, hostels and areas frequented by Israelis Establishing communication between Israelis in the areas and their families in Israel Updating the Situation Center Consular activities: emergency financial assistance, issuing of travel documents and flight tickets. Sending staff reinforcements to the Embassy in Bangkok and to crisis centers on the ground, in order to assist the Israelis and to enable them to return to Israel.

Slide9: 

Dispatching a special plane, in cooperation with the El-Al airline, to bring Israeli survivors and four of the injured back from Sri Lanka to Israel Dispatching an Israeli police forensic crew and a Zaka rescue and identification team to Phuket and Krabi in order to identify bodies. Dispatching psychologists to Phuket and Krabi to care for families who have traveled to the areas in order to identify family members. Operating a center to provide emotional support and care for families and those returning from the disaster areas (operated from Tel Aviv on a voluntary basis). Assistance to Israelis

Assistance to tsunami-ravaged countries: 

Assistance to tsunami-ravaged countries Israel was one of the first countries to offer assistance and to send aid to countries hit by the disaster. Dispatching a delegation to provide medical and humanitarian assistance in Sri Lanka. Dispatching a medical-humanitarian relief team to Thailand Dispatching 82 tons of humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka, in cooperation with the IDF. The relief consignment includes medicine, water, food, baby food, blankets, tents and generators. Dispatching a humanitarian consignment to Thailand. The consignment includes medicines worth $600,000, 500 masks and 3000 body bags.

Assistance to foreign nationals: 

Assistance to foreign nationals The Israeli crisis centers were also used as a call center to field telephone calls from nationals of countries such as Belgium, Mexico, South Africa and the United States. Israeli representatives on the ground assisted foreign nationals to identify loved ones. An Israeli representative is sitting on an international steering committee that was established in Thailand in order to locate and identify bodies. Israel provided assistance in the transportation of the body of the baby Matan Nesima, the son of a Belgian-Jewish family, for burial in Israel. Israel placed a special plane at the disposal of foreign nationals who wished to be evacuated from Sri Lanka along with Israelis.

The Media : 

The Media The aim of the activity vis-à-vis the media was to provide instant, accurate and comprehensive information to the general public and to families of Israeli backpackers in tsunami-ravaged areas. This was carried out through the following means: Daily briefings to the media The provision of regular updates to journalists regarding developments Assigning spokespeople for the electronic media Publishing information on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website Placing a notification/update form on the website pertaining to missing persons

Cooperation: 

Cooperation The various activities were carried out in full cooperation with the following organizations: IDF Israel Police Forensic Unit delegation Zaka Rescue and Identification Organization Ministry of Finance – Budget Division Ministry of Health El-Al airline