LONDON: British officials are working to get critically sick and injured children out of Gaza so they can receive specialist treatment in UK hospitals, the British foreign secretary said Monday, adding that the first patients will arrive in coming weeks.
David Lammy said he was “outraged” by Israel not allowing enough aid to enter Gaza as he announced 15 million pounds ($20 million) more for medical assistance for Gaza and the region.
“This is not a natural disaster, it’s a manmade famine in the 21st century,” he said. “I’m outraged by the Israeli government’s refusal to allow in sufficient aid.”
“We all know there is only one way out — an immediate ceasefire,” Lammy added.
He told lawmakers that British officials are also supporting students from Gaza who have been granted scholarships at UK universities so that they can start their studies in the fall.
Lammy said a “massive humanitarian response” was needed to prevent more Palestinians from dying and starving after the world’s leading authority on food crises said in late August that the Gaza Strip’s largest city is in the grips of famine.
He did not give specifics about the number of sick children or scholars that Britain is accepting from Gaza. But Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told Parliament on Monday that officials are expediting visas for those Palestinians, as well as their accompanying family members.
British media have reported that officials are facilitating the evacuation of nine students in Gaza who were awarded Chevening scholarships, funded by Britain’s Foreign Office, but that dozens of other Palestinian students who have offers to study in the UK were still in limbo.
Officials have said they will not give specifics on the evacuation process because the situation was sensitive and complex.
Other European nations including Italy have also evacuated students and sick children from Gaza.
The UK funds field hospital operations in Gaza through a charity and works with the World Health Organization in Egypt to help treat some of the 8,000 people from Gaza who have been medically evacuated there.
UK ‘outraged’ at Israel restricting aid as it works to evacuate children from Gaza for treatment
https://arab.news/wqe49
UK ‘outraged’ at Israel restricting aid as it works to evacuate children from Gaza for treatment
- David Lammy said he was ‘outraged’ by Israel not allowing enough aid to enter Gaza
- Yvette Cooper told Parliament that officials are expediting visas for Palestinians
Israel fires mortar into Gaza residential area, wounding at least 10
- The attack is the latest Israeli attack since the Oct. 10 ceasefire took effect
- Palestinian health officials have reported over 370 deaths from Israeli fire since the truce
JERUSALEM: Israeli troops fired a mortar shell over the ceasefire line into a Palestinian residential area in the Gaza Strip, in the latest incident to rock the tenuous ceasefire with Hamas. Health officials said at least 10 people were wounded, and the army said it was investigating.
The military said the mortar was fired during an operation in the area of the “Yellow Line,” which was drawn in the ceasefire agreement and divides the Israeli-held majority of Gaza from the rest of the territory.
The military did not say what troops were doing or whether they had crossed the line. It said the mortar had veered from its intended target, which it did not specify.
Fadel Naeem, director of Al-Ahli Hospital, said the hospital received 10 people wounded in the strike on central Gaza City, some critically.
It was not the first time since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10 that Israeli fire has caused Palestinian casualties outside the Yellow Line. Palestinian health officials have reported over 370 deaths from Israeli fire since the truce.
Israel has said it has opened fire in response to Hamas violations, and says most of those killed have been Hamas militants. But an Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with military protocol, said the army is aware of a number of incidents where civilians were killed, including young children and a family traveling in a van.
Palestinians say civilians have been killed in some cases because the line is poorly marked. Israeli troops have been laying down yellow blocks to delineate it, but in some areas the blocks have not yet been placed.
Ceasefire’s next phase
The Israel-Hamas ceasefire is struggling to reach its next phase, with both sides accusing each other of violations. The first phase involved the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners. The second is supposed to involve the deployment of an international stabilization force, a technocratic governing body for Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and further Israeli troop withdrawals from the territory.
The remains of one hostage, Ran Gvili, are still in Gaza, and the militants appear to be struggling to find it. Israel is demanding the return of Gvili’s remains before moving to the second phase.
Hamas is calling for more international pressure on Israel to open key border crossings, cease deadly strikes and allow more aid into the strip. Recently released Israeli military figures suggest it hasn’t met the ceasefire stipulation of allowing 600 trucks of aid into Gaza a day, though Israel disputes that finding.
Humanitarian groups say the lack of aid has had harsh effects on most of Gaza’s residents. Food remains scarce as the territory struggles to bounce back from famine, which affected parts of Gaza during the war.
The toll of war
The vast majority of Gaza’s 2 million people have been displaced. Most live in vast tent camps or among the shells of damaged buildings.
The initial Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. Almost all hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals.
Israel’s two-year campaign in Gaza has killed more than 70,660 Palestinians, roughly half of them women and children, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its count. The ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.
