(Adnkronos) – Italy has airlifted 14 Palestinian children from Gaza to Italy, where they will receive urgent medical treatment in public hospitals across the country, according to their needs, the government said Thursday.
“We’ve completed an operation to bring 14 Palestinian children and accompanying family members to Italy from the Gaza Strip. Most of these young patients have cancer or blast injuries,” a civil protection department spokeswoman said in a video posted to X.
“We have identified the best hospitals for the children to continue to receive treatment, which they could never have done in their native city,” the spokeswoman said.
The civil protection department’s fifth airlift is part of the government’s ongoing medical evacuation efforts which last took place in March, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Italy has now evacuated a total 393 Palestinians including 133 minors from the Gaza Strip since January 2024, according to the statement.
The civil protection department coordinated Thursday’s airlift with the World Health Organization (WHO), the foreign ministry’s crisis unit, Italy’s Consulate General in Jerusalem, its embassy in Tel Aviv, and the Italian defence ministry, said the statement.
Two Italian airforce planes were deployed in the airlift which took place via Israel’s Ramon Airport. The foreign ministry’s crisis unit oversaw all aspects of the airlift in close coordination with local diplomatic and consular staff.
