The first group of severely ill Gazan children evacuated from the strip has arrived in the UK to receive medical treatment, the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth, & Development Office announced on Wednesday.
A cross-government task force has been working to coordinate the complex humanitarian operation. The children and their immediate family were evacuated from Gaza to Jordan, where they were met by British Embassy staff and security. They then travelled via Italy and on to the UK.
The operation was supported by various partners, including the World Health Organization, the Government of Jordan, and Royal Jordanian Airlines.
"No one can fail to be distressed by the devastating impact the war has had on the children of Gaza, and I cannot imagine the fear and anguish their families have endured," said Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting. "It is a soul-destroying situation that compels us to act."
He added that treating the children "reflects the very best of our NHS values."
"Children are too often the innocent victims of war," Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said. "In Gaza, where the healthcare system has been decimated and hospitals are no longer functioning, there are severely ill children unable to get the medical care they need to survive."
The first group of many?
She called for medical infrastructure and health workers in Gaza to be protected, and for more medicines and supplies to be allowed into the strip.
According to Professor Meghana Pandit, the National Medical Director of the NHS, the children are severely unwell and in need of urgent medical treatment. The NHS has organised specialists at hospitals across the country to provide treatment.
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called for more children to be evacuated for treatment, and finished by urging an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages cruelly detained by Hamas, and a path to a two-state solution.