2 wounded Syrians admitted to Israeli hospital

Two wounded Syrians fleeing from the infighting in their country were admitted to an Israeli hospital, Israeli media reported on Thursday. The two Syrians, suffering chest and stomach wounds, were treated at the Ziv Medical Center in the city of Safed, about 30 km southwest of the border between Israel and Syria, the Times of Israel website reported. The two are expected to undergo surgery later on Thursday. In addition, a slight drama took place at the hospital's emergency room as one of the injured Syrians had a grenade found in his pocket. The emergency room was cleared while the grenade was removed and the emergency room returned to normal operation. A spokesperson on behalf of the hospital said that there have been 19 injured Syrians hospitalized in the center. On Monday, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon told the Knesset's ( parliament) Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the Israeli Defense Forces has operated a field hospital near the border with Syria to treat wounded Syrian casualties. "Our policy is to help in humanitarian cases and to that end we are operating a field hospital along the border," he said. "In cases where there are badly wounded individuals, we transfer them to Israeli hospitals. However, we have no intention of starting up a refugee camp in northern Israel," he added. Relations between Israel and Syria are hostile, and the two countries have been engaged in several wars. In 1967, Israel annexed the Golan Heights, a former Syrian territory, amid the Mideast War.