Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has prepared an evacuation plan for injured children in Gaza who have family members in the UK; what his planned timetable is for agreeing a safe evacuation route with adjacent countries; whether there is a limit on the number of injured children from Gaza that can be hospitalised in the UK for treatment; and what steps his Department is taking to settle (a) children with a family member and (b) orphaned children in the UK (i) until the war ends and (ii) permanently.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is horrific, we have consistently pressed the Government of Israel to allow access to essential healthcare. Getting patients out of Gaza remains challenging, particularly since the closure of the Rafah crossing in May 2024. There are provisions that allow a person to come to the UK for Private Medical Treatment under the Immigration Rules. On 1 May, the Minister for the Middle East announced that two children arrived in the UK to begin privately funded medical treatment through support to Project Pure Hope. However, the government is not currently considering implementing a bespoke visa route for Palestinians fleeing Gaza to come to the UK. The UK took the decision in December 2023 to extend consular support exceptionally to Palestinian nationals seeking to leave Gaza, in certain circumstances. Details of who the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office can try to help leave Gaza are published in our Occupied Palestinian Territories Travel Advice.