‘Olive Branches’ Holds Burial Ceremony for Bodies of Turkish Jewish Leaders

‘Olive Branches’ humanitarian delegation recovers bodies of leaders of Jewish community in Turkish city of Antakya, holds burial ceremony.

By: INN Staff

The “Olive Branches” humanitarian aid delegation recovered the bodies of the leaders of the Jewish community in the Turkish city of Antakya late last week.

After a 48-hour operation, the Olive Branches delegation recovered the bodies of Saul and Fortuna Cenudioğlu, leaders of the Jewish community in Antakya.

Following a missing report, a rescue team was dispatched to the scene and began the complex operation of finding and recovering the couple who were trapped under the ruins of their home.

The forces operated under complex weather conditions and after 24 straight hours of operation, succeeded in recovering the bodies and transferring them to a respectful burial.

Following the rescue, a burial ceremony took place with Saul and Fortuna Cenudioğlu’s family and the recovery forces present.

INN also reported on Sunday that due to a significant security threat on the Israeli rescue and relief mission in Turkey, and following a joint situational assessment with the heads of the IDF Home Front Command and Search and Rescue Units which took place on Saturday night, United Hatzalah CEO Eli Pollack and Vice President of Operations Dov Maisel instructed the head of United Hatzalah’s rescue mission Major (res.) Yossi Cohen to end the mission and return to Israel as soon as possible.

The team quickly packed up their equipment and gear and made hasty arrangements to fly back to Israel at the earliest opportunity. Due to the lack of available planes, Dr. Miriam Adelson donated her private jet to fly the team back to Israel already on Sunday.

Maisel said: “We knew that there was a certain level of risk in sending our team to this area of Turkey, which is close to the Syrian border but we took the necessary steps in order to mitigate the threat for the sake of our lifesaving mission. Unfortunately, we have just received intelligence of a concrete and immediate threat on the Israeli delegation and we have to put the security of our personnel first. We are extremely proud of what our team has accomplished in just a few days, assisting in the rescue of 15 individuals in cooperation with the IDF Home Front Command, Israel’s Search and Rescue units, local rescue forces, and the Turkish Red Cross. I want to thank Dr. Adelson for assisting us in bringing our people back quickly and safely.”

Moreover, INN reported on Sunday that UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths warned Saturday that the death toll from last week’s earthquakes in Turkey and Syria could double, rising well above 50,000.

In an interview with Sky News, Griffiths said: “I think it is difficult to estimate precisely as we need to get under the rubble but I’m sure it will double or more.”

The current confirmed death toll has risen to above 28,000. If the death toll doubles, then the quakes will have killed over 56,000 people.

Griffiths arrived in the Turkish city of Kahramanmaras on Saturday, where the epicenter of the first 7.8 magnitude earthquake was located. (IsraelNationalNews.com)