Overview

• The demissionary cabinet will temporarily bring a limited number of severely ill or wounded children from Gaza to the Netherlands for complex, high‑specialist treatment, according to a letter from Foreign Minister David van Weel.
• Key details such as the exact number of patients, selection, timing, permits and financing are still being worked out with input from bodies including the World Health Organization.
• Utrecht’s Prinses Máxima Center and UMC Utrecht say they can receive patients, and the Dutch federation of university medical centers reports capacity for several cases, with Amsterdam and Groningen also expressing readiness.
• Aid organizations welcomed the policy shift and say it can save lives, while UNICEF estimates about 3,800 children urgently need evacuation and Save the Children reports severe capacity shortages in regional systems such as Egypt.
• Clinicians and campaigners argue the move is too limited and came too late, pointing to earlier refusals to transfer patients and citing cases in which children reportedly died while awaiting permission.