Sick Gaza children evacuated to Egypt as part of international effort
Family members bid tearful goodbyes to 21 critically ill children who were evacuated from the Gaza Strip as part of a secret mission to get them the badly needed medical help that's been in short supply since the Israelis invaded the Palestinian territory.
TEL AVIV — Family members bid tearful goodbyes to 21 critically ill children who were evacuated from the Gaza Strip as part of a secret mission to get them the badly needed medical help that's been in short supply since the Israelis invaded the Palestinian territory.
The deal to allow the children to leave was brokered by the World Health Organization and American charities, according to a doctor involved with the operation. And it was put into motion with the help of the U.S. government, Israel, Egypt and other nations in the region.
“A lot of effort went in to getting these young kids, many of them in desperate medical need, get them to safety, get into some hospitals where they can get the care that they need,” White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby told NBC News.
Sixteen of the children are cancer patients, Kirby added.
"They’re obviously at critical stages of their treatment and they weren’t able to get that lifesaving, that critical medical attention that they needed for their care," he said. "And now they will. They’re there. Safely out."
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