ROME, Jan 31 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Eleven Palestinian children injured during Israeli bombings against the Gaza Strip arrived in Italy in the last few hours, the first of more than a hundred who will be treated in Italian hospitals, a statement indicates.
According to the website of the Avvenire newspaper, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, attended the reception at the Ciampino International Airport in Rome, where he noted that in this way “Italy continues to demonstrate its solidarity towards those who are certainly innocent victims.”
The minors, who arrived in Rome at 9:30 p.m. local time last Monday, will be treated in the most important pediatric hospitals in Rome, Genoa, Bologna and Florence.
Italy is the first European country to launch an international rescue operation for Gaza victims, General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo said in statements to the media, who announced that the Vulcano hospital ship, which provided humanitarian aid, will return to Palestine on Jan 31 and will transport another 50 wounded children.
An airlift will begin in February that will take other Palestinian children hospitalized in Cairo, Egypt, to several Italian hospitals, Figliuolo said, who asserted that “we will bring as many as we can.”
The Palestinian ambassador to Italy, Abeer Odeh, expressed that she was moved by the welcome given to these children, victims of Israel’s brutal attacks against the Gaza Strip, where more than 26,000 people have already died.
“We thank the Italian government for helping our minors. We hope to be able to receive many more children,” said Odeh, who on Jan 25 demanded that the Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni, recognize Palestine as a state, “a decision that we have been waiting for many years.” — NNN-PRENSA LATINA
