Thousands of tons of food will be delivered to residents of the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak by IDF troops by the beginning of the Passover holiday.
Troops of the Homefront Command, assisted by the soldiers from the Paratroopers Brigade, have taken responsibility for the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak and are assisting local authorities in trying to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
The two brigades worth of unarmed soldiers, who will not enforce the lockdown on the city, have begun providing food to at-risk populations such as the elderly and disabled as well as the evacuation of sick individuals as part of “Operation Laser Beam.”
According to a senior IDF officer, over 15,000 hot meals have been delivered to the city’s elderly population, those who are disabled and unable to leave their apartments and to families who receive welfare support.
In the coming hours, the second phase of the operation will begin, the senior officer told reporters, explaining that troops will begin to distribute some 1,000 tons of food goods including fresh fruits and vegetables as well as hygiene products like toilet paper.
Troops have also been ordered to help with the evacuation of those sick with the coronavirus, and according to the senior officer some 30 sick patients have been evacuated since Sunday morning.
“It's a different mission from our regular ones, but officers and troops are very motivated,” the senior officer told reporters.
In an attempt to curb the continued spread of the highly infectious and deadly virus, Bnei Brak was turned into a “restricted” city, with residents only allowed to leave for specific reasons.
On Monday the city of Ramat Gan was ordered by the Interior Ministry to take down makeshift fences and checkpoints that they had put up with Bnei Brak overnight. According to a statement released by the municipality,the fences were put up to stop pedestrian traffic in and out of Bnei Brak into Ramat Gan, something they say the police has not stopped.
“So long as the Israel Police doesn’t block the entrance points, and so long as the movement between cities is forbidden by law, the responsibility for public health leads us to the conclusion that it is appropriate and correct to plug all openings,” the statement read.
Also on Monday, the first plane carrying medical equipment including face masks and ventilators from China landed back in Israel carrying 20 tons of medical equipment including 900,000 surgical masks, half a million protective suits and more. On Sunday the Defense Ministry announced that 11 airplanes would take part in an airlift of medical supplies for the country throughout the week.