Italy to treat 100 wounded Palestinian children

GAZA (AFP): One hundred Palestinian children wounded in war-torn Gaza are to receive medical treatment in Italian hospitals, the defence ministry in Rome said Wednesday.

The healthcare system has almost entirely collapsed in Gaza after more than three months of devastating Israeli bombardment and fighting in the besieged Palestinian territory.

The ministry announced “the start of the operation for the transport of 100 Palestinian children and their families from the Gaza Strip to Italian hospital facilities.”

The first 30 children are set to be transferred in the next few days “with an air force airlift between Italy and Egypt”, the ministry said in a communique.

Another 30 children will arrive at the end of the month on board an Italian military ship, the “Nave Vulcano”, which will soon leave Egypt’s port of El Arish, it added.

The children will be hospitalised in several Italian cities, including Rome, Bologna, Florence and Genoa.

Separately, the ministry said it is in talks with countries in the region to set up an army field hospital.

Earlier Wednesday, seven wounded Palestinian children arrived in France for medical treatment, the second such evacuation to the European country after two other Palestinian children arrived late December.

The war in Gaza erupted when Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7, resulting in the death of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

At least 25,700 Palestinians, the majority civilians, have been killed in the Gaza Strip in Israeli bombardments and ground offensive, according to the Hamas government running the territory.

The United Nations on Tuesday warned of a “looming threat of famine” in the territory.