A Spanish military aircraft is set to transport 13 seriously ill children originally from Gaza, along with their families, from Jordan to Spain for medical treatment, Defence Minister Margarita Robles said on Wednesday.
The A400 transport plane, currently being outfitted with medical equipment, was expected to depart for Amman on Thursday to collect the group and bring them to Spain ‘so they can be treated’, she said.
Since the onset of Israel’s military response to Hamas’s 2023 attack, Spain has taken in multiple children from Gaza requiring urgent medical care.
Spain’s coalition government, led by the PSOE socialists, has consistently voiced some of the strongest criticism within the European Union regarding Israel’s ongoing military operations in the densely populated Gaza Strip. ALSO READ: Sánchez: ‘We have a moral duty to save lives in Gaza’, which is a ‘catastrophic situation of genocide’.
‘The situation in Gaza is absolutely terrible. The level of cruelty shown by [Benjamin] Netanyahu is absolutely unacceptable, and I believe the international community must respond,’ Robles said, referring to the Israeli prime minister.
Earlier this week, Spain also announced plans to airlift 12 tonnes of food into Gaza amid growing fears of famine in the territory, now entering its 21st month of war. A similar operation took place in March 2024, when 26 tonnes of aid were dropped. ALSO READ: Spain to airdrop 12 tonnes of food into Gaza this week, as famine threat intensifies.
The conflict began in Gaza after Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented incursion into Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,219 people – mainly civilians – according to Israel’s official figures.
Israel’s subsequent offensive has led to the deaths of over 60,000 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory.
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✈️ Acaba de despegar el avión #A400 del @EjercitoAire y medicalizado por la #UMAER para el traslado de niños gazatíes a España.
🩺 Militares médicos y enfermeros, además de técnicos sanitarios en aeroevacuaciones y reservistas voluntarios velarán por su salud durante el vuelo. pic.twitter.com/Kfg64cunST
— Ministerio Defensa (@Defensagob) July 31, 2025
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