UK urged to move fast after PM signs off on receiving wounded Gaza children
In a recorded video, Keir Starmer said that the UK had "put millions of pounds of aid into Gaza", including an extra £40m this year, but "that help is not getting in".
"So we are scaling up our work. We are accelerating efforts to evacuate children from Gaza who need critical medical assistance, bringing them to the UK for specialist medical treatment," he said.
Starmer's comments were welcomed by the UK-based Project Pure Hope (PPH), which brought the first two - and, so far, the only - Palestinian children from Gaza to the UK for treatment earlier this year in partnership with the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund.
The two girls, Rama, 12, and Ghena, five, came to the UK from Egypt with congenital conditions and have been receiving life-saving treatment in the private wings of leading London hospitals, funded entirely by charitable donations.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
Over a month ago, PPH asked the government to help facilitate and fund a cohort of 20-40 acutely ill and suffering children to come directly from Gaza to the UK, and had been awaiting a decision.
Now, with Starmer's sign off, PPH is urging the government to move quickly, saying it has already paved the way for such evacuations with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Israeli and Jordanian authorities, and could activate its plan to bring the group of children immediately.
"Time is of the essence," said Omar Din, one of PPH's co-founders. "Every day of delay risks the lives and futures of children who deserve a chance to recover and rebuild."
MPs pressure government
Starmer's announcement came after nearly three dozen cross-party MPs called on the government to help facilitate legal pathways and also help with the costs for Palestinian children coming to the UK for treatment.
The WHO estimates that at least 12,000 adults and children need to leave Gaza for specialised care. With a short list of countries willing to take them and Israeli authorities limiting those permitted to leave the enclave, aid workers and doctors say people are dying before they can get out.
One major obstacle to bring Palestinian children from Gaza to the UK for medical treatment has been the difficulty in obtaining visas that require biometrics. The UK closed its only authorised biometric registration centre in Gaza in October 2023, leaving the nearest visa applications centres in Egypt and Jordan.
In a 25 July letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Foreign Secretary David Lammy, the MPs recalled the case of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani campaigner for girl's education, who received life-saving surgery at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham in 2012, four days after she was shot by the Taliban.
Children will die quickly amid 'genocidal starvation' in Gaza, warns top famine expert Read More »
The MPs, led by Labour's Sam Rushworth and including International Development Committee chair Sarah Champion, said the precedent "demonstrates what can be achieved with international co-ordination and political will".
"If the government is not willing to defer biometric registration until arrival in the UK, we exhort you to work with the WHO, COGAT and the Jordanian government to secure passage to the consulate in Amman, where the relevant biomatrics check can be done prior to flying to the UK," they wrote.
The MPs also raised the question of funding. With National Health Services facilites used, the government would apply the NHS tariff plus 150 percent surchage, meaning "costs can run to hundreds of thousands of pounds per patient", they said.
They noted the role the UK had played in supporting just under half a million people to receive essential healthcare in Gaza and funding a polio vaccine campaign.
"Could [Official Development Assistance] not be used to likewise support life-saving health care 'at cost' in the UK? Paediatric specialists around the UK stand ready to help," they wrote.
"From the 669 children rescued by Sir Nicolas Winton on the Kindertransport 86 years ago, to the more recent Home for Ukraine scheme, the British people expect our country to play our part."
Din told MEE that, in order to get started with bringing the group of children, his organisation is waiting for the government to confirm details, including funding and timing.
MEE asked the Foreign Office on Monday when the government planned to start evacuating the children from Gaza, if it would allocate funding for their treatment, and whether their evacuations would be organised through a scheme like the one for the Ukrainians, but did not receive an immediate answer.
On Tuesday, Din is scheduled to travel to Cairo to pick up Majd, the third child that PPH will bring to the UK for private medical treatment.
"Whilst the UK scheme is getting off the ground, we carry on with our privately funded work," he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Middle East Eye
24 minutes ago
- Middle East Eye
More than half of those killed by Israel are women, children, and elderly: Health Ministry
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza on Tuesday said that 60,034 Palestinians have been killed since 7 October 2023, adding that more than half of those killed are civilians from vulnerable groups. The breakdown is as follows: 18,592 children (30.8 percent); 9,782 women (16.3 percent) and an estimated 7.3 percent are elderly individuals. In total, these groups account for approximately 55 percent of the fatalities, which highlights the scale of "direct and unjustified targeting of civilians" by Israeli forces, the ministry says. The statement comes amid growing international outrage over Israel's complete blockade of aid, which has led to starvation in Gaza, with hospitals overwhelmed and malnutrition killing over 100 Palestinians so far. Palestinians mourn a relative, killed in an Israeli strike, during their funeral in Gaza City on 29 July 2025 (Omar Al-Qataa /AFP)
Middle East Eye
25 minutes ago
- Middle East Eye
Unlike anything we have seen in this century: WFP emergency director
The humanitarian disaster in Gaza is reminiscent of last century's famines in Ethiopia and Nigeria's Biafra region, which jointly claimed over two million lives, the UN food agency World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday. "This is unlike anything we have seen in this century," WFP emergency director Ross Smith told AFP in Geneva. "It reminds us of previous disasters in Ethiopia or Biafra in the past century," he said, speaking from Rome. Ethiopia's 1983-84 famine killed more than one million people, and the famine resulting from the 1967-1970 Biafra war also contributed to over a million deaths. Earlier, global hunger watchdog Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warned that famine is already unfolding across the Gaza Strip as conditions deteriorate. "Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths," the IPC said. While the IPC has not formally declared a famine, it confirmed it would begin an immediate assessment. The IPC, a UN-backed group of organisations used as a monitor to gauge malnutrition, said "immediate, unimpeded" humanitarian access into Gaza was needed to stop more "starvation and death". Israel has imposed a near-total blockade of aid, leading to starvation that has killed 147 Palestinians, including 88 children. Local officials say 40,000 infants are at risk of imminent death as a formula shortage threatens babies in Gaza. Israeli forces have killed more than 60,000 Palestinians and wounded 145,870 others since 7 October 2025, the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza has said.
Arabian Business
3 hours ago
- Arabian Business
Bosses, burnout and business: Mental fatigue at ‘alarming rates' among CEOs globally, posing risks to company wellbeing
Burnout among CEOs and high-ranking corporate individuals is on the rise in recent years, led by several factors that have fundamentally reshaped the role of a corporate leader. Between navigating a pandemic and steering companies through geopolitical and economic shocks, the demands on company leaders have been intensified, and the toll is starting to show. Globally, CEO burnout has emerged as a serious risk to leadership effectiveness and corporate stability. And while this has been long acknowledged in markets such as the US and Europe, new evidence shows that business leaders in the Middle East are also experiencing comparable, if not higher, levels of stress and fatigue. According to Deloitte's 2024 Well-Being at Work survey, 71 per cent of C-suite executives globally revealed that they would consider leaving their jobs for roles that better support well-being. Additionally, DDI's Global Leadership Forecast 2025 revealed that nearly one in six leaders is facing burnout. 'Burnout is hitting leaders across industries at alarming rates,' said Stephanie Neal, Director of DDI's Center for Analytics and Behavioral Research. 'Our data shows that leaders in education, healthcare, and technology are under the most strain, putting organisations at risk of losing high-potential talent and seeing performance decline.' In the Middle East, a PWC Middle East CEO survey found that nearly 50 per cent of regional CEOs expect to change their business models in the next three years to remain viable, with over 40 per cent admitting that they struggle to balance transformation demands with personal well-being. The new pressures on leaders Experts say the convergence of several factors has made the modern CEO role more demanding than ever. Beyond the traditional responsibilities of revenue growth and shareholder value, today's CEOs are also expected to lead on sustainability, diversity, AI adoption, and corporate social responsibility. In most cases, this is all under heightened scrutiny from regulators, investors, employees, and the public. Public scrutiny in the digital age is far more relevant than in previous years, a recent example is of US-based tech company Astronomer's ex-CEO Andy Byron, who has been under severe public scrutiny after videos of an encounter with a female co-worker at a Coldplay concert went viral on social media, forcing him to quit his role in the company. As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met. Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and… — Astronomer (@astronomerio) July 19, 2025 Since the incident, Astronomer released a public statement stating, 'Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met.' Bimo Ningthoujam, Director of Wellness at Kamalaya Koh Samui, in an exclusive interview with Arabian Business, said: 'Even for the most resilient leaders, quiet or subtle burnout may occur. It is not always acknowledged, but becomes apparent when we see emotional exhaustion, withdrawal from active involvement in decision-making or strategic meetings, as well as disengagement from the team, and a sense of depletion even after holidays or breaks.' Reflecting on factors within the last five years, the pandemic exacerbated pressures on company leaders. Lockdowns and the shift to remote work blurred boundaries between professional and personal life. CEOs alongside employees often worked longer hours, shouldered the emotional burden of workforce uncertainty and faced criticism for decisions on layoffs, mandates, and office returns. In the Middle East specifically, the rapid economic diversification from Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 to the UAE's push to be a global tech and finance hub has increased competition and pressure on leaders to deliver transformational change in compressed timeframes. The region's ambitious development strategies has created a unique environment of both opportunity and strain. Executives in sectors such as real estate, technology, hospitality, and energy have had to scale operations dramatically to meet national targets while contending with global headwinds. In 2024, the UAE recorded foreign direct investment flows of over $45 billion, according to the UNCTAD World Investment Report 2025, while Saudi Arabia's economy continues to restructure away from oil. Such growth has elevated the expectations placed on corporate leaders in the region. In a culture where mental health struggles still remain a taboo topic at the leadership level in many companies, an increasing number of private mental health clinics and executive coaches are reporting rising CEOs and senior executives seeking confidential support for stress, insomnia, exhaustion and other stress-related factors. In an exclusive interview with Arabian Business in January, Jane McNab, COO at Harbour Clinic London, said: 'They come from a different world in a lot of cases, so we've created a safe environment for these individuals to get the care that they need away from the eyes of the public away from the weight of expectation.' Due to the high-profile nature of clients, the clinic clarified that strict measures have been put in place to meet the growing demand whilst ensuring complete privacy. 'A lot of the multi-bed facilities, whether it's addiction or mental health, understandably have a lot of restrictions. No phones, no meetings because they have to serve the whole group, for a CEO to disappear for four weeks is really, really costly,' she explained. Understanding the need for leaders to be available whilst receiving treatment, the clinic creates bespoke plans to ensure availability during treatment plans. Clients can keep their phones on (if determined as safe) and attend online meetings. 'Because we recognise that they have to go back into the world and engage with everything again, and we have to balance that they are in treatment, but still need to keep everything afloat outside of treatment,' Clinical Director Shahira Kamal said. Packages are priced at £49,995 to £95,000 per week and includes high living standards, luxury residences, opulent amenities and more. The business impact of burnout Beyond the personal cost, CEO burnout carries clear business risks. According to Gallup's State of the Global Workplace 2025 report, last year global employee engagement fell, costing the world economy $438 in lost productivity. The report states that leadership engagement is directly linked to team engagement which ultimately affects productivity, business performance and GDP growth. For family-run enterprises, which are dominant in the Middle East, the stakes may be even higher as leadership transitions and succession planning are often less formalised than in public companies. Harbour Clinic London, for instance, has reported a rising demand from ultra-high-net-worth individuals with undisclosed anxiety and depression. 'The extra layer that people from the Gulf and the Middle East add is around shame and secrecy because no one knows. They cannot disclose to their family or their colleagues, there is no support network and they don't seek support online…There is secrecy around it, something they have not spoken about in years,' Kamal explained. Specifically for dynastic families, which account for a significant portion of clientele, McNab attributed mental health struggles to 'lack of purpose that leads to a level of anxiety, shame, and unhelpful behaviour.' Oftentimes, family-run enterprises struggle with the pressures of wealth and influential positions along with a lack of purpose and overwhelming expectations. Globally, a growing number of companies are recognising the need to support leadership resilience through measures such as executive coaching, structured sabbaticals, mental health benefits and broad-level discussions about CEO well-being. As regional economies continue their transformations, the pressure on corporate leaders will likely intensify. Companies that fail to address CEO burnout risk instability. 'Recognising these signs early is essential – not only for the well-being of the leader, but also for the wider organisation – as it offers an opportunity to address the imbalance and help prevent long-term consequences,' Ningthoujam concluded.
