A report circulating online that claims the Pentagon is inviting Islamic State group militants disguised as White Helmets rescue volunteers to the United States is false.
The White Helmets are not Islamic State group militants, and they are not being invited to the United States.
The NWO Report website, which says it focuses on conspiracy news, made the false claim in the headline of a story that discussed plans to evacuate White Helmets volunteers from war-torn Syria. The Israeli military last weekend rescued 98 White Helmets volunteers and their families, over 420 people, from a southern section of the country as government forces seized the area. The operation was conceived by Britain, Germany and Canada and supported by Israel, Jordan, the United States and the U.N.
The White Helmets, also known as the Syrian Civil Defense, have been working in war-ravaged parts of Syria since the civil war began in 2013. The group says their 3,000 volunteers have saved more than 115,000 lives in five years. The group made the shortlist for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2016. A Netflix documentary about the White Helmets won an Oscar for best documentary (short subject) last year.
Navy Cdr. Sean Robertson, a Pentagon spokesman, said the White Helmets were allowed into Jordan on a "transitory basis, until UNHCR completes procedures for their resettlement in follow-on countries." According to the State Department, those countries are Canada, Britain and Germany.
"The United States is not currently resettling any members of the White Helmets," a State Department spokesperson told The Associated Press in an email. The email commended the countries that will be providing "permanent homes for these heroes."
Syria and Russia have called the White Helmets everything from a propaganda group to terrorists. They claim the White Helmets' rescue videos are staged. The Syrian government reacted to last weekend's evacuation of rescue workers calling it a "criminal process" intended to destabilize Syria.
NWO Report did not respond to a request by email for comment.