The Government is working “at pace” to bring sick and injured children from Gaza to the UK for urgent medical treatment, Downing Street has said.
Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesperson said a cross-government task force is “up and running”, but warned that it is a “sensitive and complex process”.
His comments come after the BBC reported that the first group of critically ill and injured Gazan children, said to be between 30 and 50 patients, will be arriving “in the coming weeks”.
It is understood that the children will come from hospital with family members via a third country, where biometric data will be collected, and that some may enter the asylum system after completing treatment.
The Number 10 spokesperson said: “We’re not going to get into a running commentary on numbers or the exact process.
“Exact numbers are going to depend on clinical need and various factors.”
He added: “We continue to take all those plans to evacuate more children from Gaza, who require urgent medical care in the UK and specialist treatment.
“Obviously, it’s sensitive and it’s a complex process, and the wellbeing of patients and their families is our top priority.
“There’s a cross-government task force working together to deliver this new scheme and we’ll obviously provide an update as and when we’ve got them.”
The spokesperson continued: “There’s a task force up and running to deliver this (as soon) as possible.
“Patients will obviously be assessed on a case-by-case basis, some will be brought to the UK if that’s the best option for their care.
“We obviously continue to provide significant support in the region as well, for evacuations within the region, to support people desperately in need of care.
“And that is on top of the significant aid that we’re providing to the region to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis.”
He said the Government will give updates on the plans “as and when we can”, but said: “We are working at pace to deliver it.”
More than 50,000 children are estimated to have been killed or injured in Gaza since October 2023, according to Unicef.
A small number of children have so far been brought to the UK for specialist medical care via an initiative by Project Pure Hope, and they are being treated privately.
The Government’s plans, coordinated the Foreign Office, Home Office and Department of Health, is set to see children treated by the NHS.
Last month, a cross-party group of 96 MPs wrote a letter to the government urging them to bring sick and injured children from Gaza to the UK, warning that they are at risk of imminent death due to the “decimation” of the healthcare system.
Labour MP Rachael Maskell, who signed that letter, has insisted that there must be “no delay”.
She told the PA news agency: “There should be no delay in getting children from Gaza the healthcare they need.
“I have met regularly with clinicians on their return from Gaza, who have shared the most distressing stories of the challenges of providing services to children without the equipment and medication that is needed, and in inadequate facilities where they are daily having to make life and death decisions, when in the UK, they know that they would be able to treat and save so many more lives.
“It is vital that we do everything to provide healthcare at scale and more so, do everything to stop the killing in Gaza.”
