https://arab.news/wuxax
- Patients and their families have been given access to National Health Service
- Scheme coordinated by govt departments will offer treatment, housing over initial 2-year period
LONDON: The first group of critically ill Palestinian children accepted by Britain have arrived in the country for emergency lifesaving treatment, The Guardian reported.
The patients and their families have been given access to free treatment through the National Health Service, the government said.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper on Monday informed the parliamentary Labour Party about the arrival.
Over an initial two-year period, the patients and their families will also receive appropriate housing and support services.
The operation, which will include later groups of critically ill children, is being coordinated by the Foreign Office, the Home Office, and the Department of Health and Social Care.
“It was a lot of diplomatic work” to resolve the departure of the children from Gaza, Cooper told the Daily Mirror last week.
Between 30 and 50 Palestinian children are expected to be treated through the scheme.
In Scotland, two critically ill children and their families arrived for treatment, the Scottish government said, adding that it had committed to supporting the treatment of up to 20 Palestinian children over the coming weeks.
Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “This initial support is a small step towards restoring some humanity to the catastrophic situation in Gaza as a result of the Israeli government’s actions.”
The Scottish government will work closely with health and local authorities to treat and house the patients and their families, giving them the “essential support they need,” he added.
The UK government, meanwhile, is working to evacuate Palestinian students from Gaza who have been offered places at British universities.
Cooper said: “I’m determined to make sure that we can do our bit to help those injured families and also to help students get into their courses this autumn.”
A scheme led by Project Pure Hope has already brought Palestinian children to the UK for medical treatment. The private initiative was founded by a group of senior doctors and healthcare leaders.
More than 50,000 Palestinian children are thought to have been killed or injured by the Israeli military since October 2023, according to UNICEF.