Northern Ireland to ‘play its part’ treating children injured in Gaza

By Rebecca Black, PA

Stormont will “play its part” in a UK effort to provide medical treatment for children injured in Gaza.

The first group of critically ill and injured Gazan children, said to be between 30 and 50 patients, will reportedly be arriving “in the coming weeks”.

A very small number, two or three children, are expected to be treated in Northern Ireland.

The Executive Office (TEO) has confirmed that First Minister Michelle O’Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly have agreed to a request from Northern Ireland's Health Minister Mike Nesbitt to bring children from Gaza for medical treatment.

Sinn Féin, the SDLP, and the Alliance Party have welcomed the move. But TUV leader Jim Allister has expressed concern that those who come could stay.

Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw, who chairs the Executive Office committee, said: “My priority would be to focus on the children who have got very life-limiting, devastating injuries, and I think that what we have to do is focus on getting them better and improving their prognosis.”

She told the BBC: “What happens to them whenever their medical condition is stabilised is for others to decide, but right now we have to play our part in providing that healthcare for those children in most need.”

A spokesperson for TEO said: “The First Minister and the deputy First Minister agreed to the request from the Minister for Health, for Northern Ireland to participate in the UKG (UK Government) scheme to bring children from Gaza to the UK for medical treatment.”