UK to evacuate sick and injured children from Gaza for NHS care

Britain to transfer sick and wounded Gazan children to the UK for NHS medical care

The UK government is preparing to launch a taxpayer-funded program in the coming weeks to bring seriously ill and wounded children from Gaza to Britain for NHS treatment. Under the new scheme, ministers will streamline the process for granting public funding to children who need urgent medical care. To date, three youngsters have already arrived in the UK this year through a privately managed initiative run by the charity Project Pure Hope.  

A government spokesperson said: “We are advancing plans to evacuate more children from Gaza who require urgent medical intervention, including transferring them to the UK for specialist treatment when that is the most appropriate setting. We are moving at pace to implement this scheme as swiftly as possible, and will share further details shortly.”  

According to UNICEF, over 50,000 children in Gaza have been killed or injured since hostilities between Hamas and Israel began in October 2023. Last week, Labour leader Keir Starmer noted that the UK is urgently increasing efforts to bring children to Gaza for treatment. The forthcoming government initiative will operate alongside Project Pure Hope’s private evacuations.  

Thanks to the charity’s work, 15-year-old Majd al-Shagnobi became the first Palestinian minor to travel to London for complex reconstructive surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital after an Israeli tank shell shattered his jaw while he was seeking humanitarian aid in February last year. That operation was privately funded by Project Pure Hope and performed pro bono by a volunteer medical team. Earlier this year, the charity also secured UK visas for two girls—13-year-old Rama and five-year-old Ghena—so they could undergo privately funded procedures for chronic health conditions.  

Pressure for an official scheme has grown in Westminster. More than 100 MPs, led by Labour’s Stella Creasy, signed a letter urging ministers to bring at least 30 critically ill Gaza children to the UK for treatment. In late July, the Foreign Affairs Select Committee reported that ministers had declined to support medical evacuations, which involve arranging travel permits, medical visas, and safe transportation to Britain for specialist care unavailable in Gaza. The Guardian also disclosed that a law firm representing three gravely ill children from Gaza is pursuing legal action against the government.  

Internationally, other nations have moved faster: Italy has flown dozens of Palestinian children and their families to its own hospitals, with the first group arriving in January 2024. The Sunday Times, which first broke news of the UK’s plans, quoted a senior Whitehall source estimating that up to 300 children could be brought over under the official program. These young patients would travel with a parent or guardian—and siblings if necessary—after undergoing Home Office biometric checks prior to departure.  

Project Pure Hope welcomed the government’s announcement and offered to share its nearly two years of operational experience. “Our model can help ensure the UK acts quickly and effectively so that every child in urgent need of care has the best chance of survival and recovery,” a charity spokesperson said. The group has long urged ministers to adopt a framework similar to the one established for Ukrainian refugees in November 2023.  

Separately, the UK has collaborated with Jordan on airdropping humanitarian aid into Gaza to alleviate famine conditions caused by Israel’s blockade. Starmer also announced that, unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire, expands aid access, ends West Bank annexations, and commits to a two-state peace process, the UK will recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September.