First group of Palestinian children head to UK for NHS treatment
Foreign Secretary says Britain is working 'very hard' to evacuate the injured
The first group of seriously ill and injured children from Gaza are on their way to the UK to receive NHS treatment.
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Each child could be joined by family members if necessary, according to reports.
They are the first group from the Gaza Strip set to receive medical care on the NHS as the humanitarian situation deteriorates.
The UN declared a famine in Gaza last month while Israeli forces have ramped up their attacks on Gaza City, conducting repeated waves of heavy air strikes.
The assault has forced hundreds of thousands of people, including young children, to flee toward western Gaza as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presses on with his plan to occupy the city.
“We are working to get injured children out of Gaza, to be able to help them in the UK,” Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Sunday.
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"It's a lot of diplomatic work in order to help them actually leave Gaza and then also travel through other countries in order to be able to get to the UK," she told the Mirror.
There has been no official confirmation of the exact number of children being evacuated, but it is thought to be between 30 to 50.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Strarmer first announced the scheme in mid-August.
Several government departments are working in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), which works on the ground and plays a critical role in supporting medical evacuations from Gaza.
The UK continues to push for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, a surge in aid and delivery of a framework for lasting peace.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio held talks with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem this week after President Donald Trump said he was not happy about Israel’s strikes on Hamas senior leader in Qatar.
Referring to the attack on the group’s leadership, Mr Rubio told reporters on Sunday: “Obviously, we’re not happy about it. The president was not happy about it. Now we need to move forward and figure out what comes next,”
But he added that the assault was “not going to change the nature of our relationship with the Israelis”.
The official death toll in Gaza is thought to be nearing 65,000, with local hospitals saying at least more 13 Palestinians have been killed in the latest strikes across the Gaza strip on Sunday.