Fourteen Palestinian children suffering from cancer have been evacuated from Gaza to receive treatment in Italy as part of the Italian government’s humanitarian assistance programmes for the Palestinian population. The young patients crossed the Rafah border into Egypt and are currently at the Italian Hospital in Cairo, where they are undergoing the necessary medical examinations before being transferred to Italy, accompanied by their families.
The request for their evacuation from Gaza and the hope for their admission to Italy had also been expressed by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa during Minister Tajani’s visit to Israel on 6 February. Following the Minister’s initiative, the Italian Foreign Ministry took action to facilitate the children’s exit through the Rafah crossing—reopened thanks to the European EUBAM mission, in which Italy played a key role by deploying its Carabinieri—and secured the flight that will arrive in Rome tomorrow. The success of this initiative was made possible through the collaboration between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, and the Department of Civil Protection, in coordination with the WHO and the European Civil Protection Mechanism, with the support of the Egyptian Ministry of Health.
Minister Tajani also expressed his gratitude to his Israeli counterpart, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, for his role in facilitating the evacuations. The Italian Foreign Ministry had already been working with the Ministry of Defence since the outbreak of the war in Gaza to provide humanitarian medical assistance to the civilian population. For several weeks, the Italian Navy’s ship Vulcano was anchored in Egypt, hosting Palestinian patients who received treatment on board the ship’s hospital. During that phase, Tajani requested and secured the collaboration of the Qatari government, which sent medical personnel to work alongside the Vulcano’s staff.
Once medical assessments are completed, each child will be assigned to a hospital in Italy. The healthcare facilities currently involved include: Policlinico Regina Margherita in Turin, Policlinico Umberto I in Rome, Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo, Ospedali Civili in Brescia, Meyer Hospital in Florence, Bambino Gesù in Rome, Niguarda Hospital in Milan, and AOU in Padua.
The children will arrive in Italy tomorrow on an Air Force flight provided by the Ministry of Defence, which will take charge of the patients and their families in Egypt. From Rome, Milan, and Pisa, and under the coordination of the Crisis Unit, the children will then be transferred to their assigned hospitals by ambulances provided by Civil Protection.
