17 Palestinian children return to Gaza after receiving treatment in Jordan

AMMAN — Seventeen Palestinian children, accompanied by their families, returned to the Gaza Strip on Tuesday after receiving “life-saving” treatment in Jordanian hospitals as part of the “Jordanian Medical Corridor” initiative.

The children had arrived in Jordan on March 4 as part of the first medical evacuation group, coordinated through joint land and air efforts by the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army (JAF), in cooperation with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Ministry of Health.

During their stay, the children received specialised treatment for a range of urgent medical conditions, with all 17 making full recoveries, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

An additional 12 children remain hospitalised in Jordan, continuing to receive care under the same initiative.

The families expressed gratitude to His Majesty King Abdullah and the JAF, praising the initiative for restoring hope to communities devastated by the Israeli war and the dire healthcare shortage in Gaza.

This medical evacuation is one of several humanitarian interventions launched by Jordan in response to the Gaza crisis. 

Other efforts include the deployment of field hospitals, the dispatch of medical and food aid convoys, and the continued evacuation of children and other individuals in need of advanced treatment unavailable in the besieged enclave.

Jordan currently operates two military field hospitals in Gaza. 

The first, in northern Gaza, was established in 2009 following the war of 2008. The second was established in Khan Younis in the south in November 2023 at the peak of the Israeli war of aggression on the coastal enclave that erupted on October 7, 2023.

Besides the field hospitals in Gaza, the JAF established the Jordanian field hospital in Nablus in late November 2023 and has conducted over 900 surgeries and received more than 83,000 patients ever since.