Fijian health personnel to leave for Golan Heights

Two surgical doctors and nine nurses from Fiji will leave next week for the Golan Heights, the government-owned Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) reported Wednesday. The medical personnel have been seconded from the Ministry of Health to the country's military forces, and have undergone extensive military training for the past six months. The 11 officials, who are part of the original deployment numbers, will leave next week after the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) confirmed the opening of new surgical wards in the Golan Heights, said the report, adding that all Fijian personnel deployed to this mission have been "well trained and equipped to deal with the volatile situation there". Over 500 Fijian peacekeeping personnel have been deployed to the Golan Heights, which was taken over from Syria to Israel during the 1967 war, figures from the Republic of Fiji Military Forces show.