Today, Tuesday, civil defense crews, under the auspices of President Mahmoud Abbas, carried out an international exercise in the governorates of Nablus and Jericho , simulating the request for international assistance in the event of an earthquake.

The exercise was preceded by a meeting of the Supreme Council of Civil Defense in the headquarters of the Nablus governorate, in the presence of the Minister of Interior, Major General Ziyad Hab Al-Rih, the Governor, Major General Ibrahim Ramadan, the Minister of Local Government, Eng. The European Union and Jordan, as well as representatives of many of the governorate’s institutions and activities and leaders of the security services.

The Minister of Interior, Major General Hab Al-Rih, thanked the civil defense field soldiers and everyone who contributed to the success of this event, stressing the importance of being prepared to face any emergency.

In turn, Governor Ramadan stressed the importance of this event and the implementation of this scenario, to be ready in the event of any earthquake, and assess the general situation, extending his thanks to all partner institutions from the United Nations, the European Union and brotherly Jordan.

He said that the aim of this exercise is to measure the national effort and present it to international institutions, and to measure the effort of volunteers and others in the event of an earthquake.

For his part, Minister Al-Saleh appreciated this unique experience, which indicates the Palestinian people's readiness to always face crises, recalling the previous cooperation between various parties in managing the Corona crisis, and the need to draw lessons.

Civil Defense spokesman, Abdel-Wadood Al-Najjar, told Al-Quds.com that this exercise is the first of its kind and size at the level of the Civil Defense. It began with a simulation of the exposure of the city of Jericho to an earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale, and then reached the city of Nablus.

Al-Najjar added that the civil defense, the Nablus municipality fire brigade, the Red Crescent, the Ministry of Health, security services, and civil institutions were supposed to intervene, in addition to the arrival of five international rescue teams from Spain, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Jordan to support local relief efforts.

He explained that the simulation was represented by the occurrence of simultaneous events at the same time, to measure the relationship between the partners and the distribution of tasks, as three residential areas were evacuated, which are Khallat al-Amud, and residential buildings near the Rawda College, and the Ministry of Health building. Evacuation of the injured from landing operations via the hydraulic ladder and the normal ladder.