World

UK urged to admit 11 Gaza children hurt in the war for urgent treatment

Published

12 months ago

June 5, 2024

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Kareem saw the tanks and yelled. His mother and sister ran outside to find him, and then the tank fired.

The pain was so excruciating that Kareem begged the doctors to amputate his leg.

Because of the war, they had to do it without an anaesthetic. His screams were so loud that people on the floor above thought someone was giving birth.

“My husband, daughter, Kareem and I were all injured,” explains his mother.

“My husband lost his eyesight and is currently awaiting treatment. His intestines are damaged. Kareem underwent surgery on the upper part of his body.

“The flesh around his leg is completely gone, leaving only the bone. Meanwhile, I have splinters in my eye.”

The 14-year-old boy, who was top of his class and dreamt of owning his own bike, now thinks he will never ride one again.

Kareem is suffering massive weight loss and is now only 26kg (4st 1lb), unable to move far and has had infections in his bones.

“Kareem reached a state of despair; he lacked the energy to engage in conversation,” says his mother.

“Every time I tried to talk to him, he would lash out at me. When the crossings closed, his dreams were shattered.

“Even the faint glimmer of hope we had was gone. We were left with nothing.”

“His condition is deteriorating every day,” says his doctor, Saeed.

“He is at risk of losing his life due to the scarcity of medical supplies and the many difficulties we face as a medical team in this department.

“We cannot adequately treat these cases here. This patient needs to be transferred out of Gaza.”

Two British charities, Project Pure Hope and Save A Child, have written to the UK foreign and home secretaries asking them to give approval for Kareem and 10 other children to travel to the UK for specialist treatment.

The charities have experience taking other children for care outside Gaza.

“If they are able to enter the United Kingdom for a finite period in order to receive the treatments needed, it is our assessment that their prospects of surviving in the first instance, and securing a good quality of life, will be materially enhanced,” the letter says.

Money for their travel and medical costs has already been raised.

Their stay in Britain would only be temporary, for the course of their treatment – it just needs the British government to sign it off, but they have not done so.

Other European countries, including France, Italy and Switzerland, have accepted children from Gaza for medical care.

“We are assured that, once again, the UK has the expertise and centres to effectively treat and manage these children’s injuries, and that these are not available immediately in the local region,” continues the letter to Lord Cameron and James Cleverly.

‘She wakes up screaming’

Two-year-old Zeina is also on the evacuation list. She was injured in a fire after an airstrike on the camp she was living in.

More than a fifth of her small body is covered in second and third-degree burns.

Her thighs, the palms of her hands, her chest, back, neck, face and forehead are all burnt.

“One day, at approximately 2.30pm I went to get bread,” says her father Noor.

“When I came back, my wife was wailing and screaming that Zeina was injured. I asked her what happened, and she told me that there was a strike on the refugee camp while she was cooking, and Zeina started running around and fell into the fire.”

Zeina’s had 16 operations in just two months, on average one every three or four days. It’s amazing she survived.

These children are not just suffering physical pain, they are experiencing deep trauma too. There is no escape for them.

“Her pain keeps getting worse, and sometimes she wakes up screaming at night,” Noor says.

“Whenever she sees someone in a medical uniform, she panics and starts screaming. She is always afraid, and sometimes she can’t control her urine.

“This wasn’t a problem before her injury; it only started after the surgeries.

“It has gotten so bad that she sometimes wets herself out of fear,” says her father. “She only feels safe with her mother and me; it is as though she is dealing with trauma now.”

The hospitals, so damaged by the fighting, cannot give the children the treatment they need. Asleep or awake, they are haunted by the pain of their injuries and sounds of war.

They have a small chance of recovery: Britain. If only they could go there.

World

Palestinians flock to Gaza aid centres despite concerns – as lawyers call for sanctions on Israel

Published

7 hours ago

May 27, 2025

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Palestinians flock to Gaza aid centres despite concerns - as lawyers call for sanctions on Israel

Thousands of Palestinians have flocked to aid distribution sites in Gaza with desperation for food overcoming concerns over Israeli-enforced checks at the centres.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is backed by Israel and the US, said on Tuesday it had distributed around 8,000 food boxes, equivalent to about 462,000 meals – just a fraction of what is needed, aid agencies say.

The centres have opened as hundreds of legal professionals in the UK, including lawyers and former judges, accused Israel of “genocide” and “war crimes”.

Crowds including women and children could be seen at one centre in Rafah, southern Gaza, where people received packages including rice, flour, canned beans, pasta, olive oil, biscuits and sugar.

Witnesses in Rafah said Israeli gunfire was heard after desperate people broke fences to reach supplies.

The Israeli military said its forces did not direct aerial gunfire towards the centre, but rather fired warning shots in an area outside the hub.

In a statement, it said control over the situation had been established, with aid distribution to continue as planned.

Many Palestinians stayed away amid fears over Israel’s plan to use biometric screening procedures on those receiving vital food packages.

Israeli officials said one advantage of the new aid system is the chance to screen recipients to exclude anyone they say is connected with Hamas.

Humanitarian groups briefed on the plans say anyone receiving aid will have to submit to facial recognition technology – which many Palestinians fear will end up in Israeli hands to track and possibly target them.

Father-of-seven Abu Ahmed said: “As much as I want to go because I am hungry and my children are hungry, I am afraid.”

He continued: “I am so scared because they said the company [GHF] belongs to Israel and is a mercenary, and also because the resistance [Hamas] said not to go.”

UN boycotts aid foundation

Israel previously said its forces would not be involved in the distribution points but its endorsement of the plan, which resembles Israeli schemes floated previously, has led to many questioning the neutrality of GHF.

The United Nations and major international aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF – accusing it of undermining the principle that aid should be distributed based on need.

“Humanitarian assistance must not be politicised or militarised,” said Christian Cardon, chief spokesperson of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Ex-judges call for sanctions on Israel

Over 800 legal professionals – including former Supreme Court judges – have published an open letter calling for the UK to impose sanctions on Israel.

The letter says “genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza or that, at a minimum, there is a serious risk of genocide”. It continues: “War crimes, crimes against humanity and serious violations of international humanitarian law are being committed.”

Israel has consistently denied these accusations.

As a small flow of aid has arrived in Gaza after Israel’s months-long blockade, Israeli forces have kept up attacks on various targets in the territory.

Some 3,901 Palestinians have been killed since a ceasefire collapsed in mid-March, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

As the GHF centres opened on Monday, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 36 people in a school-turned-shelter that was hit as people slept, according to local health officials.

Israel said it targeted militants operating from the school.

World

Controversial US and Israel-backed aid group starts operations in Gaza

Published

16 hours ago

May 27, 2025

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Controversial US and Israel-backed aid group starts operations in Gaza

A new aid system has opened its first distribution centres in Gaza, according to a US-backed organisation dealing with supplies.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began its operations in the territory on Monday, following the resignation of its director, Jake Wood, over its independence.

Gaza’s 2.3m population has been pushed towards famine by Israel’s almost three-month blockade.

The GHF said lorryloads of food – it did not say how many – had been delivered to its hubs, and distribution to Palestinians had begun.

“More trucks with aid will be delivered tomorrow, with the flow of aid increasing each day,” it said in a statement.

The controversial group, backed by Israel and the United States, has been rejected by the United Nations and other aid groups.

Follow the latest developments in our live blog

UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF.

They claim Israel is weaponising food, and the new distribution system will be ineffective and lead to further displacement of Palestinians.

They also argue the GHF will fail to meet local needs, and violates humanitarian principles that prohibit a warring party from controlling humanitarian assistance.

In the meantime, scores of Palestinians in Gaza, like Islam Abu Taima, have resorted to searching through rubbish to find food.

She found a small pile of cooked rice, scraps of bread, and a box with a few pieces of cheese inside it – which she said she will serve to her five children.

“We’re dying of hunger,” she told the Associated Press news agency.

“If we don’t eat, we’ll die.”

It is unclear how many of the GHF’s aid trucks will enter Gaza.

It claims it will reach one million Palestinians by the end of the week.

There are questions, however, over who is funding it and how it will work.

It has been set up as part of an Israeli plan – rather than a UN distribution effort.

Israel, which suggested a similar plan earlier this year, has said it will not be involved in distributing the aid but supported the plan and would provide security.

It says aid deliveries into Gaza are taken by Hamas instead of going to civilians.

Aid groups, however, say there is no evidence of this happening on a systemic basis.

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King urged to seek Canadian apology

Israel began to allow a limited amount of food into Gaza last week – after a blockade that prevented food, medicine, fuel and other goods from entering the Palestinian enclave.

A letter has been signed by hundreds of judges and lawyers calling on the UK government to impose trade sanctions on Israel.

It also calls for Israeli ministers to be sanctioned and the suspension of Israel from the UN over “serious breaches of international law”.

“Genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza or that, at a minimum, there is a serious risk of genocide,” the letter says.

The Israeli government has repeatedly dismissed allegations of genocide in Gaza.

More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its ground invasion of Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, following the deadly attacks by the militant group on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.

The health ministry’s figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters in Gaza.

World

King Charles urged to seek Canadian apology for historical abuse of British children

Published

19 hours ago

May 27, 2025

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King Charles urged to seek Canadian apology for historical abuse of British children

King Charles and Queen Camilla are being urged to use their visit to Canada to seek an apology for the abuse of British children.

Campaigners have called on them to pursue an apology for the “dire circumstances” suffered by so-called “Home Children” over decades.

More than 100,000 were shipped from orphan homes in the UK to Canada between 1869 and 1948 with many used as cheap labour, typically as farm workers and domestic servants. Many were subject to mistreatment and abuse.

Canada has resisted calls to follow the UK and Australia in apologising for its involvement in child migrant schemes.

Campaigners for the Home Children say the royal visit presents a “great opportunity” for a change of heart.

“I would ask that King Charles uses his trip to request an apology,” John Jefkins told Sky News.

John’s father Bert was one of 115,000 British Home Children transported to Canada, arriving in 1914 with his brother Reggie.

“It’s really important for the Home Children themselves and for their descendants,” John said.

“It’s something we deserve and it’s really important for the healing process, as well as building awareness of the experience of the Home Children.

“They were treated very, very badly by the Canadian government at the time. A lot of them were abused, they were treated horribly. They were second-class citizens, lepers in a way.”

More on this story:
The forgotten legacy of British children sent to Canada

John added: “I think the King’s visit provides a great opportunity to reinforce our campaign and to pursue an apology because we’re part of the Commonwealth and King Charles is a new Head of the Commonwealth meeting a new Canadian prime minister. It’s a chance, for both, to look at the situation with a fresh eye.

“There’s much about this visit that looks on our sovereignty and who we are as Canadians, rightly so.

“I think it’s also right that in contemplating the country we built, we focus on the people who built it, many in the most trying of circumstances.”

The issue was addressed by the then Prince of Wales during a tour of Canada in May 2022. He said at the time: “We must find new ways to come to terms with the darker and more difficult aspects of the past.”

King Charles and Queen Camilla are on a two-day visit to Canada.

On Tuesday, the King will deliver the Speech from the Throne to open the 45th session of Canada’s parliament.

Camilla was made Patron of Barnardo’s in 2016. The organisation sent tens of thousands of Home Children to Canada. She took on the role, having served as president since 2007.

Buckingham Palace has been contacted for comment.

A spokesperson for the Canadian government said: “The government of Canada is committed to keeping the memory of the British Home Children alive.

“Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada deeply regrets this unjust and discriminatory policy, which was in place from 1869 to 1948. Such an approach would have no place in modern Canada, and we must learn from past mistakes.”