The nearly 300 Gazan children are expected to never return back home, sources told the Sunday Times.
Hundreds of ill Gazan children will be evacuated from Gaza to the United Kingdom to be treated by the National Health Service, the Sunday Times reported on Saturday evening.
Some 300 Gazan children are expected to travel to the UK and receive free medical care, the report stated.
The children will be accompanied by a parent and their siblings if necessary. A source familiar with the plan said that officials expected many of the children and their families to never return home.
Spain, Italy, Ireland, Norway, and Romania have reportedly already taken in around 200 children, and are expected to welcome more. The report noted that during the course of the war, only three children have been granted medical visas.
UK Foreign Minister David Lammy, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, and Health Secretary Wes Streeting reportedly worked together on the plan. It was announced after Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that he would recognize a Palestinian state as soon as September.
UK to recognize Palestinian state
Lammy argued that the recognition was a “historic step.”
“This was a historic step forward not just for those who believe in the just cause of Palestinian statehood, but all those who reject Hamas terrorism and support Israel’s security. Hamas are rightly pariahs who can have no role in Gaza’s future, and we have now built a diplomatic consensus around that. But Hamas are not the Palestinian people.
He said that during a UN conference on a two-state solution in New York, attendees “mapped out a clear pathway forward for security, governance, and reconstruction in Gaza, and for a viable and sovereign Palestine, alongside an Israel secure and at peace with its neighbors.”
“The Israeli government’s drip-feeding of aid has horrified the world. Britain is working intensely with Jordan and other partners to get aid into Gaza by air and land — but only with the lifting of Israeli restrictions can we meet the desperate need at scale. Since the horrors of October 7, we have called for the release of all hostages and for Hamas to play no role in the future of Gaza. Those demands are absolute and unconditional.”
Last month, Starmer wrote in the Daily Mail that his country was “sickened” by the situation in Gaza.
“The images of starvation and desperation in Gaza are utterly horrifying. We are urgently accelerating efforts to evacuate children from Gaza who need critical medical assistance — bringing more Palestinian children to the UK for specialist medical treatment.”
On Thursday, Hamas said it would not lay down its arms until a sovereign Palestinian state was realized with Jerusalem as its capital.
