Spain to evacuate 13 ill children from Gaza for treatment

A Spanish military plane will fly 13 ailing children from war-torn Gaza and their families from Jordan to Spain for hospital treatment, Defense Minister Margarita Robles said Wednesday.

An A400 military transport aircraft is being fitted with medical equipment and is scheduled to depart later Wednesday for Amman to bring them to Spain “so they can be treated,” she said.

For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

Spain has repeatedly taken in sick children since the start of the Israeli offensive in Gaza sparked by Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel.

The country’s leftist government has been among the most vocal critics in the European Union of Israel’s ongoing military campaign in the densely populated, narrow coastal strip.

“The situation in Gaza is absolutely terrible. The level of cruelty shown by (Benjamin) Netanyahu is absolutely unacceptable, and I believe the international community must respond,” Robles said, referring to Israel’s prime minister.

Earlier this week, the Spanish government said it would airdrop 12 tons of food into Gaza as the threat of famine stalks the Palestinian territory after 21 months of war.

A similar airdrop of 26 tons took place in March 2024.

The war was triggered by an unprecedented cross-border attack by Hamas into Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the death of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data.

In response, Israel launched an offensive that has killed more than 60,000 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to data from the territory’s health ministry.

Read more:

Palestine Action wins bid to challenge UK ban under anti-terrorism laws

In Gaza malnutrition ward, a child’s arm is as wide as mother’s thumb

Why there hasn’t been a formal declaration of famine in Gaza