The United States on Sunday praised Israel and Jordan for facilitating the evacuations of hundreds of White Helmet rescuers from Syria.
The State Department also praised Britain, Canada and Germany for agreeing to give the evacuees new homes.
"We are glad that these brave volunteers, who have saved thousands of lives, are now out of harm's way," the State Department said of the White Helmets, according to AFP.
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley also weighed in on the evacuation efforts.
“Today, more than 400 members of the White Helmets and their families were safely evacuated from southwest Syria. Their safe evacuation was made possible with critical support from the UN and the Governments of Israel and Jordan. The United States worked closely with our partners Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom to make this operation possible,” she said in a statement.
“Today we are grateful for our international partners who helped guide the White Helmets and their families to safety. We couldn’t be more thankful to the White Helmets for the bravery and selflessness they have shown, tirelessly risking their own lives to rescue and give medical care to victims of the brutal Assad regime. We pray for a day when they can return to a peaceful and free Syria,” added Haley.
Over the weekend, the German newspaper Bild reported that Israel had helped evacuate 800 members of the White Helmets from southwest Syria.
On Sunday morning, the IDF confirmed that it had competed a “humanitarian effort” on behalf of Syrian civilians.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu later explained that Israel had received a special request from U.S. President Donald Trump to assist the roughly 800 Syrian civilians.
Later on Sunday, the IDF released footage from the rescue operation, showing buses of Syrian civilians being transferred through Israeli territory to Jordan.
Jason Greenblatt, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Special Representative for International Negotiations, on Sunday night praised the IDF for the rescue operation, calling it “daring”.
“The Israel Defense Forces deserve special commendation for this - they managed to pull this operation together quickly and were focused on saving as many people as possible. Thank you as well to the Government of Jordan for their efforts,” he said.