"Israel" born in Philippines
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TACLOBAN, Philippines - Israeli army medics have delivered a baby in the typhoon-hit central Philippines, and the grateful mother named him Israel.
About 150 members of the Israeli Defense Forces Home Front Command set up a field hospital in Bogo city on Cebu Island a week after Typhoon Haiyan killed at least 3,633 people and injured 12,487 others, according to the latest toll Saturday.
A day later, on Friday, Audrin Antigua was rushed in from among a long line of patients seeking treatment.
According to Dr. Reuven Keidar, quoted by the Israeli Embassy in Manila, Antigua gave birth to a healthy boy hours later. She named him Israel.
Israel's response to the disaster in the Philippines follows similar relief operations the country mounted in Haiti in 2010 and Turkey in 2011. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms on record, hit the countrys eastern seaboard Nov. 8, leaving a wide swath of destruction.
