SDEROT (January 15, 2010) -- After a period of relative quiet, the western Negev area has been rocked by constant Qassam and mortar rocket fire from Gaza over the past week and a half.  A mortar landed in the Ashkelon Beach Council on January 15, 2010.  No injuries or damage was reported.  Three days earlier, two Palestinian gunmen in Beit Hanoun, Gaza were killed in a mysterious explosion.  The IDF denied they fired any rockets and speculated that a bomb they were preparing may have gone off prematurely. On Sunday, January 10 four mortar shells were fired at Israel, targeting an area south of Ashkelon.  The IDF retaliated, hitting a Palestinian team preparing to shoot a rocket at Israel.  Three were killed and four injured in this precision attack. On Saturday night, two Qassams struck the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council near Sderot and one mortar hit on Friday night, January 9.  The first incident in this string ofattacks took place on Thursday night, January 8 when seven mortar shells landed near the Keren Shalom Crossing from Gaza, in the Eshkol Regional Council and a Qassam landed near Ashkelon.  Miraculously no injuries or damages were reported in any of these strikes.

MDA medical teams MUST remain on high alert in the western Negev and along the Lebanon border in Israel's north, to protect and care for Israel’s people. 

NEW YORK (January 15, 2010) - American Friends of Magen David Adom announces that it has established the "MDA Emergency Disaster Fund" to support MDA's humanitarian medical programs in Haiti in the wake of the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck that nation.  To donate to the"MDA EMERGENCY DISASTER FUND," supporters can click the "Donate Now" button on the AFMDA home page and then click on the box that says "Would you like this tribute to be made in honor of one of our campaigns?" A pull down menu will appear. The last campaign listed says "MDA Emergency Disaster Fund."  100% of the funds donated to this campaign will be allocated to Magen David Adom's humanitarian efforts in Haiti.

REPORT FROM HAITI

PORT-AU-PRINCE (February 1, 2010) - Reports that Israel is withdrawing from Haiti are not true.  Although the IDF contingent, which was deployed to work with search and rescue teams as well as provide urgent medical treatment in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, have left, Magen David Adom is remaining in Haiti and is now cycling in new personnel.

reprinted from LA Jewish Journal

STEP-UP NATION

By David Suissa

Yonaton Yagodovsky, Director of the International Desk at Magen David Adom (MDA) in Israel, remembers exactly where he was when he first heard about the earthquake in Haiti.

CLICK ON "READ FULL STORY" FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: MDA IN HAITI

JERUSALEM (January 20, 2010) - American Friends of Magen David Adom hosted 4,046 visitors at MDA Emergency Medical Stations and the MDA National Blood Services Center in Ramat Gan during 2009. Included in this number are tour groups, synagogues and federation missions that requested adding MDA to their itineraries as well as individual donors.  Also in 2009, AFMDA helped Magen David Adom collect 1,950 units of blood, compared to 1,600 in 2008 for an increase of more than 20%. Both of these numbers are significant because overall tourism to Israel decreased in 2009 by nearly 30%. The increase in blood donations at events hosted by AFMDA is also significant because there were special regulations put in place for a quarter of the year due to the swine flu - tourists in Israel for less than a week were prohibited from giving blood - and AFMDA both had to cancel scheduled blood drives and couldn't schedule others during this time period.

Entrusted to collect and maintain the nation's precious blood supply, MDA Blood Services personnel work tirelessly everyday to run blood drives throughout Israel.  Recognizing this need, American Friends of Magen David Adom was proud to facilitate opportunities for visiting Americans and others to participate in this effort in 2009. 

JERUSALEM (December 2, 2009) -

Work is progressing on the rebuilding of the MDA Jerusalem Station, which will be renamed the "William H. Bloomberg MDA Jerusalem Station."
The parking lot in back (pictured) has been dug up and work is progressing on what will be a two-tiered area. The bottom floor of the Station has been partially demolished; offices and the volunteer quarters have been relocated upstairs.
Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Station continues to be MDA's largest and busiest facility, necessitating careful coordination of emergency and construction vehicles and the stationing of many of Jerusalem's ambulances offsite.

IN ADDITION TO MDA JERUSALEM, AMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM IS OR WILL BE UNDERTAKING A NUMBER OF OTHER, IMPORTANT PROJECTS FOR MDA IN ISRAEL.  INFORMATION WILL BE POSTED SOON CONCERNING:

• MDA Holon Emergency Medical Station
• MDA Pisgat Ze'ev (Jerusalem) Sub               Station
• MDA Mitzpe Ramon Emer. Med. Station
• MDA Beer Sheva Emergency Med Station
• MDA Nahariya Emergency Medical Station