Six ambassadors representing their countries at the United Nations in Geneva toured Israel and Gaza-border communities last week as part of a Foreign Ministry initiative aimed at giving diplomats a firsthand look at the reality Israel has faced over the past three years, Ynet reported.

The delegation, led by Israel’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Daniel Meron, included representatives from Gambia, Zambia, Ethiopia, Panama, Fiji and Mongolia, spanning Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific.

Meron said members of the delegation broke down in tears twice during the tour. The first time was at the Nova site, where they heard testimony from a survivor named Mazal about those who survived the massacre by pretending to be dead.

The ambassadors were moved to tears again during a visit to Save a Child’s Heart (an Israeli NGO that provides life-saving cardiac care to children from third-world countries), where they met children from their own countries who had undergone life-saving heart surgery in Israel. They also met doctors from Ethiopia and Zambia who are receiving medical training in Israel.

According to Meron, the ambassadors were deeply impressed by the resilience of the Israeli people and by the coexistence they witnessed in Yafo.

Gambia’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Muhammadou Kah, said after visiting the Nova massacre site and Sderot that he now truly understands what happened on October 7, describing the events as “unfathomable.”

Fiji’s ambassador, Laisenia Tamata, said he planned to contact his country’s prime minister and ask him to recruit engineers to help rebuild kibbutzim near the Gaza border.

Meron cautioned that the visit does not necessarily mean the ambassadors’ countries will begin voting with Israel at the UN. However, he said the diplomats are now more deeply engaged in the discussions and in highlighting Israel’s contributions.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)