Jardine welcomes children’s evacuation

Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine has welcomed the UK Government’s decision to allow more than 30 critically injured Palestinian children to be evacuated to this country for medical care.

Ms Jardine was one of more than 100 MPs who wrote to the Prime Minister this weekend urging him “to recognise the real urgency of medical evacuations and act on some of the barriers that are preventing the very sickest children from being evacuated from Gaza”.

The cross party group highlighted the decimation of the healthcare system, destruction of essential infrastructure and blockade of food, water and medical supplies which has contributed to a medical and humanitarian catastrophe on a frightening scale.

The MP, who has also been pressing the government to help students trapped in Gaza to take up the places they have been offered at Edinburgh University, said:

“It was a huge relief to hear that the government has responded to our pleas and is going to act immediately to get some of these children out.

“Nobody who has seen the media coverage or read the stories could be in any doubt about the scale of the catastrophe unfolding in Gaza and the need to provide support as quickly as possible.

“But although we can help these children there are still many, many more young people, families in Gaza as well as the remaining Israeli hostages taken by Hamas for whom it is absolutely vital that this war is brought to an end.

“We must keep up the pressure for humanitarian aid, an immediate ceasefire and a long term two state solution which upholds peace and security for all and recognises a state of Palestine.”