A boy of 15 maimed in Gaza became the first to receive treatment for war injuries in London as Donald Trump‘s envoy touched down in the devastated territory yesterday.
Majd Alshaghnobi suffered severe facial injuries and a shattered leg while searching for food with two friends last year.
He was brought to the UK by Project Pure Hope, a charity set up by senior healthcare workers who have also treated children from Ukraine and Israel.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, along with the US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, made a rare trip into Gaza to visit an aid station and devise a plan to get aid into the strip.
Mr Witkoff tweeted: ‘We spent over five hours inside Gaza. The purpose of the visit was to give the President a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza.’
On Thursday, Mr Trump said he did not believe Israel’s denials of famine in Gaza, saying there was ‘real starvation’ happening.
‘We want to get people fed,’ he said. ‘It is something that should have happened a long time ago.’
The UN says that more than 1,300 people queuing for aid at centres run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is backed by Israel, have been killed since late May. Rights group have condemned the centres as a ‘death trap’.
Majd Alshaghnobi (pictured) suffered severe facial injuries and a shattered leg while searching for food with two friends last year
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, along with the US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee (both pictured), made a rare trip into Gaza to visit an aid station and devise a plan to get aid into the strip
Yesterday, wounded Madj was applauded by well-wishers when he arrived at Heathrow airport in London.
He said Israeli soldiers had opened fire on him and his friends, killing one and seriously injuring the other two, as they waited for aid.
His medical team, all working for free, will include craniofacial, plastic and orthodontic surgeons. Hospital bills will be covered by private donations.
Lead surgeon Professor Noor ul Owase Jeelani, of London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, said Majd’s arrival comes after months of wrangling over a temporary visa.
‘If we are able to give him a face and a jaw, it won’t be completely normal, but hopefully he will be able to feed himself and speak, and his facial expressions will be better,’ he said.
‘Hopefully that will make a big impact on how he lives and on his future.
‘Our hope is that we will be able to help many more children like him in the coming months.
‘It’s our collective moral responsibility. I don’t quite understand why it’s taken us over 20 months to get to this stage.’
Pictured: release of humanitarian aid from a Spanish Air Force Airbus over Gaza on August 1
Majd’s arrival comes a week after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was planning to evacuate badly injured children from Gaza.
Dozens of MPs have called on him to establish a Ukraine-style visa to allow Gazans to enter Britain for medical treatment.
Omar Din, an NHS healthcare executive and co-founder of Project Pure Hope, said: ‘Every day of delay risks the lives and futures of children who deserve a chance to live, to recover and to rebuild a life.’
Two Gazan girls aged five and 12 with long-term medical problems were brought to London for treatment in April.
