Spain to evacuate 13 sick children from Gaza for medical care
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Spain has repeatedly taken in sick and injured children for treatment since the war on Gaza began.
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Yazan Abu Ful, a 2-year-old malnourished child, poses for a photo at his family home in the al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, on July 23, 2025 (AP)
A Spanish military aircraft will transport 13 seriously ill children from war-ravaged Gaza, along with their families, from Jordan to Spain for medical treatment, Defense Minister Margarita Robles announced on Wednesday.
The A400 military transport plane is currently being equipped with medical facilities and is scheduled to depart later today for Amman to carry out the evacuation, Robles said, adding that the children will receive hospital care upon arrival in Spain.
Spain has repeatedly taken in sick and injured children for treatment since the war on Gaza began.
Spain’s leftist government has been one of the European Union’s most outspoken critics of "Israel’s" ongoing offensive in the densely populated coastal enclave.
"The situation in Gaza is absolutely terrible. The level of cruelty shown by (Benjamin) Netanyahu is absolutely unacceptable, and I believe the international community must respond," Robles said, referring to the Israeli prime minister.
Earlier this week, the Spanish government announced plans to airdrop 12 tonnes of food into Gaza, where famine looms after nearly two years of war. A similar airdrop, delivering 26 tonnes of aid, was carried out in March 2024.
Gaza’s youngest starve first as siege chokes off lifesaving aid
The mounting humanitarian toll in Gaza was underscored by the death of 10-year-old Nour Abu Sala'a, who succumbed to starvation and lack of medical care, an emblem of the spiraling crisis under "Israel’s" months-long blockade, which has cut off food, medicine, and clean water for Gaza’s 2.1 million residents.
In a damning alert released Tuesday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global hunger watchdog, warned that "the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out" in Gaza. The IPC noted that acute malnutrition, disease, and extreme food deprivation have reached catastrophic levels in several areas, especially Gaza City.
Although Gaza has not yet received a formal famine designation, pending a full assessment, the IPC confirmed it would begin one “without delay". The group, composed of 21 UN agencies and humanitarian organizations, said current data already shows Gaza surpassing famine thresholds for food consumption and child malnutrition.
“Immediate, unimpeded humanitarian access at scale is the only way to prevent more deaths and further catastrophic suffering,” the IPC stated. The organization emphasized that nearly 90% of Gaza lies under evacuation orders or within militarized zones, making food distribution almost impossible.
