THE EU must urgently evacuate critically injured children from Gaza to hospitals in European countries including Ireland, MEP Eoin Ryan urged yesterday.
Speaking after the Belgian government brought children injured during Israeli attacks to Belgium, he said “urgent action is needed as medical services in Gaza at the moment cannot adequately provide the necessary treatment”.
Hundreds of children badly injured in the attacks have high degree burns and face the prospect of having limbs amputated.
Mr Ryan, a member of the EU Parliament’s Development Aid Committee, said many of these children could receive medical treatment to save their limbs if an EU-wide initiative was mounted quickly. “The European Union must engage with all interested parties in the Middle East on this specific issue. The medical services in Gaza are having real and acute difficulties at present in coping with the level of injuries received as a direct consequence of the Israeli attacks on Gaza.”
Mr Ryan has written to Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin, Louis Michel, European commissioner responsible for development aid, and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European commissioner responsible for external relations, seeking support for the initiative.
