Ireland to oversee medical evacuations of sick and injured children from Gaza
The Department of Health expects 18 more Palestinian children to be airlifted with parents or carers in the autumn to receive urgent medical care following two successful evacuations from Gaza through Egypt, and on to Ireland, last December and May.
The department said: 'We anticipate that a further two or three medical evacuations will be carried out over the coming months to ensure we deliver on our commitment to receive and treat 30 paediatric patients and provide support to their families here in Ireland.
'To date, we have had two successful medical evacuations with 12 paediatric patients medically evacuated with 12 mothers/carers and 21 family members accompanying the patient.'
Ireland is among 10 EU countries to accept medical evacuations from Gaza. Turkey has accepted nearly half of all patients from the Gaza Strip since October 2023.
The World Health Organisation said in a statement this week up to 14,800 people in Gaza are estimated to require urgent medical evacuation for multiple reasons, ranging from cancer and other chronic diseases to conflict-related injuries.
They added: 'This number has been steadily rising in recent weeks.' Relatives of Palestinians, who lost loved ones following Israeli attacks on various parts of residential areas, mourn after they are being brought to the morgue of the al-Shifa Hospital for their funeral process in Gaza City, Gaza on June 17, 2025 (Image: Khames Alrefi/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Ireland is among 16 countries in the European region, which cover 53 states, that have accepted 919 patients from Gaza since October 2023.
A WHO/Europe spokesperson said: 'Turkey has so far accepted the lion's share, taking in 433 patients, followed by Italy (187) and Uzbekistan (100).
'Our records show Ireland has accepted 14 patients thus far, though we are aware of the intention to receive more patients.'
They added that WHO continues to advocate for increased evacuations.
They said: 'But it depends on EU Member States and other host countries accepting more patients, and ongoing logistical and security challenges to ensure the safe movement and transportation of patients.
'WHO has put in place the necessary logistical arrangements within Gaza to increase the number of medical evacuations should there be an increase in offers from receiving countries and security clearance from the Israeli government.
'WHO regional director for Europe, Dr Hans Kluge, has been strongly advocating for member states to scale up medical evacuations in line with humanitarian and health principles.' Hamdi Al-Najjar is visited by his brother, Ali Al-Najjar, and two nieces, Samah Al-Najjar (L) and Sahar Al-Najjar (R), while in the intensive care unit at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza, after an Israeli airstrike hit his home (Image: Hani Alshaer/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The Department of Health in Ireland said it is 'not aware of any request made by the WHO or other agencies for Ireland to take more patients than originally agreed'.
They said the Ministry of Health in Gaza has the primary role of selecting patients for medical evacuation overseas.
The statement added: 'WHO is present on the ground in Gaza and is coordinating evacuations of patients through Egypt and other third countries to EU participating Member States.
'Ireland opts into this response on a case-by-case basis for each child who requires treatment, subject to the available capacity.
'The patients to be selected for treatment in Ireland must be minors, ie under 17 years of age.
'In line with these procedures, the health service in Ireland assesses requests for medical evacuation from the WHO-approved list and, where suitable, makes offers of medical evacuation to Ireland, subject to release of required documentation by the health services in Egypt.
'The offers are then required to be accepted by the patients/carers before medical evacuation.' (Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
The Irish Red Cross, contracted by the Department of Health, provides accommodation and wraparound caseworker support to families brought to Ireland under the Gaza medical evacuation programme.
Working alongside Children's Health Ireland, they help families access healthcare, social services, schools, and English classes.
They have also recruited Arabic-speaking caseworkers to assist with daily needs, including private hospital transport. Six Gazan families whose children are medically stable will relocate from Dublin to the North West.
This follows months of consultation, while families of children who require ongoing specialist treatment will remain in Dublin.
According to the Red Cross, the CHI coordination team has worked closely with hospitals to ensure continuity of care while providing transport for specialist appointments in Dublin.
The new accommodation is designed to keep families together while placing them close to medical, educational and community services – including halal food outlets and places of worship – all within walking distance.
A Department of Health spokesperson said: 'Ireland has already carried out two successful medical evacuations of 12 paediatric patients out of the commitment of up to 30 paediatric patients from Gaza. Two of the accompanying adult family members of these children were also on the WHO-approved list, bringing Ireland's total to 14 patients on the WHO list.' Palestinians walk during the evacuation of the Jabalia refugee camp and the Sheikh Radwan and Abu Iskandar neighborhoods in the northern Gaza Strip amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territories between Israel and Hamas (Image: Mahmoud Issa/Quds Net News via ZUMA Press Wire)
They added: 'The current focus of the Department and all relevant authorities is to prepare for the next medical evacuation of paediatric patients from Gaza and accompanying family members through Egypt. We know from experience of two previous medical evacuations that preparation and planning is critical to the success of these complex medical evacuations.'
In relation to the number of medical evacuations carried out by Ireland, they said: 'Over 220 patients and over 500 companions have been evacuated under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) to 11 Member States (Belgium, Germany, Greece, France, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania and Slovakia) and three UCPM Participating States (Albania, Norway, Türkiye) in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) and Egyptian, Israeli and Jordanian authorities. Three countries have evacuated over 30 patients, four have evacuated between 10 and 30 patients, including Ireland, and four countries have evacuated between one and nine patients under the UCPM mechanism.'
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