Up to 30 children from Gaza are to be brought to Ireland for medical treatment under plans being finalised by Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly.
Department of Health officials are understood to have been working on the proposal alongside doctors, the Irish Red Cross and other Government departments.
Between 25 and 30 young patients are expected to be treated in Ireland over the coming months under the initiative, which will mean children accompanied by carers accommodated in homes owned by healthcare workers.
Children in need of treatment and their carer would be flown into the State by the European Union. A range of conditions would be treated under the scheme, but it will exclude orthopaedics due to existing pressures in that speciality area.
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Health sources said those travelling to Ireland under the initiative would receive screenings for infectious diseases beforehand, a standard practice for medical evacuations. This is seen as being particularly important in this case due to an outbreak of polio in Gaza, where a vaccination programme has got under way.
Mr Donnelly met Health Service Executive officials and senior doctors involved in addition to the Irish Red Cross about the initiative last week. It is understood the HSE will opt in on a case-by-case basis depending on capacity at the time.
The move follows a call for assistance from the World Health Organisation for countries to accept children from Gaza for critical treatment. It said air strikes and lack of medical supplies, food, water and fuel in the Gaza Strip have “virtually depleted an already under-resourced health system”.
Hospitals have been operating far beyond capacity due to rising numbers of patients as well as displaced civilians seeking shelter. As a result, thousands of people have required evacuation to access necessary healthcare, with the vast majority receiving care in Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
In July, Spain treated 16 people with complicated medical needs from Gaza, of whom 15 were children.
In an update on Wednesday, the Gaza health ministry said more than 40,861 Palestinians have been killed and 94,398 have been wounded in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since October 7th.
The main United Nations agency for Palestinians said it was making good progress in rolling out a polio vaccine to children in Gaza, but called for a permanent ceasefire in the 11-month war to ease humanitarian suffering.
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