Further seven Palestinian children arrive in Ireland for treatment following evacuation from Gaza
Al-Rantisi children's hospital in Gaza was destroyed during the Israeli air and ground offensive. Picture: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
A further seven Palestinian children have arrived in Ireland for hospital treatment following their medical evacuation from Gaza.
Health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and foreign affairs minister Helen McEntee confirmed what will be the fifth medical evacuation of its kind approved by the Government.
Approval was initially granted in September 2024, in response to an appeal from the World Health Organization (WHO) to address the health needs of people from Gaza.
The children and accompanying family members travelled overland from Gaza to Jordan in a WHO medevac convoy and were accompanied from Jordan by an Irish medical team on a plane provided by the Norwegian government.
They will undergo medical assessments over the coming days with teams from Children’s Health Ireland (CHI), co-ordinated by the Inclusion Health Service at CHI Temple Street.
CHI will continue to provide long-term care for these patients with many being discharged or transferred to other hospitals to continue on an out-patient basis.
A total of 27 children from Gaza have now been brought to Ireland for medical treatment.
Head of international and migration at Irish Red Cross, Niall O’Keeffe, described the news as positive.
“We at the Irish Red Cross have seen first-hand the positive impact of the Medevac programme on the children who have already come here over the past 15 months for medical treatment. It truly is life changing.
He said the Irish Red Cross team will stand side by side with the children and their families “helping them settle into their new life here in Ireland".
“We do this by providing practical support including accommodation, transport to medical appointments and Arabic-speaking caseworkers, as well as emotional care and support as they recover and rebuild their lives," he said.
"These children, and their families, have been through so much. We will do all we can to help them heal from their truly traumatic experiences and regain their health and emotional strength.”
The complex operation required significant coordination and collaboration with the Irish embassies in Jordan and Ramallah, Irish Red Cross, relevant authorities in the region, the Jordanian Red Crescent, WHO, Médecins sans Frontières, the European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism, and the government of Norway.
Ireland will continue to opt in on a case-by-case basis for each child in need of treatment, subject to the necessary capacity being available at that time.
Under this initiative, the children and their families are housed in accommodation managed by the Irish Red Cross.
Care packages being provided includes caseworker and translation services to ensure that patients and their carers can access all necessary services.
The HSE will also provide appropriate psycho-social assessment for both patients and carers. All patients and carers received health screening before travelling to Dublin.
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