The Ministry of Health organises a new evacuation of sick and injured Palestinian children from the Gaza Strip

The Ministry of Health has organised a new evacuation via Jordan of 20 Palestinian children, together with 81 family members, from the Gaza Strip so that they can receive treatment in Spanish hospitals for injuries caused by Israeli attacks and for various medical conditions.

This operation is being carried out in coordination with the Ministries of Defence; Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation; the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration; and the Ministry of Home Affairs. The patients and their companions - a total of 101 people - will arrive at Torrejón de Ardoz Air Base.

The children and their families will be transported by teams from the World Health Organisation (WHO) to the border between Israel and Jordan, where they will be looked after by a team from Médecins Sans Frontières, working alongside the Ministry of Health, which has been deployed to the area. From there, they will be taken by teams from the Spanish Embassy in Jordan and ambulances from Médecins Sans Frontières to the airport, where a Spanish Air and Space Force aircraft will fly them to Spain.

Among the children who have been evacuated, six have various types of traumatic injuries, four have kidney conditions, five have eye conditions, two have congenital heart conditions, one has oesophagitis, another has hydrocephalus and one has a metabolic disorder. Once they are in Spain, the patients will be referred to hospitals in Asturias, Cantabria, Navarre, the Basque Country, Catalonia, Castile-La Mancha, Valencia, Madrid and Murcia.

The distribution and healthcare coordination in the different centres has been managed by the National Health Management Institute, a body attached to the Ministry of Health.

As with the previous five evacuations of this kind, this operation is being co-ordinated by the Ministry of Health in conjunction with the World Health Organisation and the European Commission's Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC).

The operation will utilise an aircraft from the Spanish Air and Space Force, staffed by over a dozen military personnel from the Aero-medical Evacuation Unit, including doctors, flight nurses, intensivists, and medical technicians, who will ensure the safety and health of the passengers during the journey to Spain.

The reception and comprehensive care of family members will be managed by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, together with the NGO Accem, including accommodation, food, psychological and legal support, as well as translation and interpreting services.

The Spanish Embassy in Jordan has handled the necessary arrangements for the operation, including the issuance of visas.

This is the the sixth humanitarian evacuation of this type organised by Spain in the last year and a half, carried out under the Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC) procedure activated by the European Commission's Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) through the Ministry of Home Affairs' General Secretariat for Civil Protection and Emergencies and the WHO.

Non official translation