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A new Magen David Adom mission from Israel headed for Nepal this week to evacuate four Israeli babies born to surrogate mothers following the second major earthquake to hit the Asian nation in three weeks, Ynet reported.

The babies, all born prematurely, were in neonatal intensive care units at the Grande International Hospital in Kathmandu at the time of the May 12 earthquake. One of the fathers, Yoav Elani, said that all of the fathers grabbed their babies, disconnected them from tubes and machines and ran outside.

The surrogate mothers and hospital staff also were safe, the Tammuz surrogacy agency, which facilitates the pregnancies, told the Hebrew-language NRG news website. The babies and their parents spent the night in a car in the parking lot of the hospital so the babies could stay warm, according to NRG.

Following the 7.8 magnitude quake on April 25, Israel evacuated 25 Israeli babies born to surrogate mothers in Nepal, as well as some late-term surrogate mothers.

According to Israel’s Foreign Ministry, there were no injuries among more than 100 Israelis who were in Nepal during this week’s 7.3 magnitude quake, which as of midweek had claimed 66 lives and injured 2,000. The April 25 earthquake killed more than 8,000 people and injured upwards of 16,000.

Rabbi Chezky Lifshitz, co-director of Chabad of Nepal with his wife, Chani, said soon after the May 12 quake that 133 Israelis had taken shelter at the Chabad center. “Although everyone we know appears to be safe, we are sad to report that there are many more casualties in Nepal again today,” Lifshitz said. “There is so much more work that now needs to be done.”

On the very morning of the second quake, the Israel Defense Forces delegation that had been sent to Nepal in April returned home and was welcomed at Ben Gurion Airport by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. — jta