The UK government is facing a legal battle over its refusal to evacuate critically ill children from Gaza for urgent medical treatment, a move critics say starkly contrasts with Britain’s previous humanitarian interventions in conflicts such as Bosnia and Ukraine.
The legal action, brought against both the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Home Office, has been launched on behalf of three severely ill Palestinian children currently trapped in Gaza.
Lawyers argue that UK ministers have failed to adequately consider the dire state of medical infrastructure in the region when denying requests for medical evacuation.
According to Leigh Day, the law firm representing the families, the government’s reliance on regional treatment options and private medical visas to the UK is “wholly insufficient” to address the life-threatening needs of these children. Carolin Ott, the solicitor leading the legal action, said:
“These mechanisms are profoundly inadequate to meet the urgent medical needs of children in Gaza.”
The children at the centre of the case include a two-year-old boy, known as Child Y, suffering from an arteriovenous malformation causing daily bleeding and a critical health condition.
The other two, siblings referred to as Child S, suffer from cystinosis nephropathy – a rare kidney disorder – and both are in advanced stages of kidney failure. One sibling is now immobile.
Despite repeated pleas, the UK has yet to declare itself a receiving state for medical evacuations from Gaza.
Campaigners and humanitarian groups are urging ministers to create a dedicated immigration route for seriously ill Palestinian patients, similar to schemes adopted during the Ukraine crisis.
Since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, now exceeding 650 days, over 17,000 children have died out of more than 58,000 Palestinian fatalities, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
The World Health Organization estimates that some 12,500 patients require evacuation from Gaza; just over 7,200 have been transferred abroad, nearly 5,000 of them children.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which has managed to evacuate only 22 patients, says the lack of receiving countries is a major obstacle.
Dr Hani Isleem, MSF’s coordinator for Gaza evacuations, noted that some nations hesitate out of concern for perceptions of forced migration or long-term responsibility for patients’ care.
The UK government maintains that it has supported over 500,000 individuals in the Palestinian territories since the conflict began, primarily through aid to field hospitals and delivery of medical supplies.
In May, it pledged an additional £7.5 million for medical relief in Gaza and the surrounding region.
A government spokesperson confirmed that two Gazan children were granted entry to the UK for treatment in May through Project Pure Hope, a privately funded initiative.
This remains the only avenue currently available for critical care in the UK, and, according to legal filings, the charity’s request for a state-sponsored evacuation route was denied.
“We have made clear that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is intolerable. We continue to call for an immediate ceasefire and for Israel to permit the flow of aid and medical evacuation for the wounded,” the spokesperson said.
The government has until 28 July to formally respond to the pre-action legal letter, which could lead to a judicial review if no resolution is found.
