A group of between 30 and 50 critically ill and injured children will be evacuated from Gaza to the UK for medical treatment in the coming weeks, according to the BBC.
Before the World Health Organisation arranges travel, doctors employed by the Hamas-run health ministry will choose the children based on their need.
It follows a letter from some Members of Parliament to the government, requesting that they bring sick and injured children from Gaza to the UK “as soon as possible.”
A cross-party group of 96 Members of the UK Parliament warned in a letter last week that any obstacles to evacuation should be removed right away because children in Gaza were in danger of dying soon as a result of the “decimation” of the healthcare system.
Through an initiative by the organisation Project Pure Hope (PPH), some Gazan children have already been transported privately to the UK for medical treatment; however, the government has not yet evacuated any through its own program during the conflict.
The government stated earlier in August that plans to send more children to the UK for medical care were proceeding “at pace.”
It’s not clear which third country the kids will pass through en route to the UK, how many kids will be participating, or if more groups will follow.
The host nation consents to pay for the patient’s and their companions’ housing and living expenses as well as the cost of treatment, including mental health support.
Since returning patients must be able to get the care they require, it is recognised that some children may enter the asylum system after finishing treatment due to the difficulty of returning them to Gaza.
UNICEF reports that children in the Gaza Strip have suffered an unimaginable amount as a result of the conflict. There have reportedly been over 50,000 child fatalities or injuries. In the Gaza Strip, children are dying from starvation.
Children are suffering from severe malnutrition at a rate that is outpacing the delivery of aid. In Gaza, almost all children are familiar with the experience of displacement: their homes have been destroyed, their families have been split apart.
