An heroic British aid worker dubbed the ‘Angel of Mostar’ has helped evacuate nine sick and severely wounded kids from war-torn Gaza by private jet.
Sally Becker told of her ‘relief’ of saving the children – including double amputee Ahmed Shabbat, 3 – after the plane landed in Trieste, Italy, yesterday.
And incredible footage showed how another young lad Yousef Hatab, who lost his lower leg when a missile struck his apartment building, waved as he was wheeled to safety.
Sally said about the mercy mission, which is the first privately funded airlift of children from the war-torn region: ‘I just hope other countries will open their doors to help more children in urgent need of specialist treatment.’
The aid worker – who got her nickname after saving hundreds of children in the Bosnian War – spent months planning the mercy mission with partners Gaza Kinder Relief and Project Pure Hope.
Sally Becker (pictured) told of her ‘relief’ of saving the children – including double amputee Ahmed Shabbat, 3 – after the plane landed in Trieste, Italy, yesterday
Yousef Hatab, left, who lost his lower leg, was also aboard the private jet flight to Italy
Joudi who has Thallasemia and needs blood transfusions, was among the nine children on the plane out of Egypt
And after first negotiating with Palestinian and Israeli authorities to bring the kids to Egypt, she met them with a team of doctors at a military base in Cairo.
The children and their mothers were then flown to Italy, where they were ushered onto a fleet of ambulances and brought to the Burlo Garofolo children’s hospital at around 1am.
Sally said: ‘I was so relieved when we finally landed as it was looking really unlikely at times. Our colleagues at Gaza Kinder Relief have spent months establishing connections with the various authorities in Egypt.
‘And the Italian embassy has been amazing, remaining open for several hours into the late evening in order to issue the visas in time for the medevac flight’
‘I’d been watching all the images on TV and usually I would go and help, but Gaza is a different story. It’s basically blocked on all sides. I can’t just cross the border and evacuate the children myself.’
Sally said she was comforted that she could finally get little Ahmad the treatment he needed – and was amazed at the resilience of the kids she’d helped.
She said of his evacuation: ‘It was fantastic because that poor little boy suffered enough. Now he’ll just be spoiled rotten no doubt.
‘Most of their baggage was filled with toys they had been given in Egypt and the plane was filled with gifts from the Refugee Foundation.
‘But what is most astounding is their resilience. I expected them to be severely traumatized and instead, they are so accepting of what happened to them.’
Sally, who runs British charity Save A Child, received referrals of injured kids from the Gaza Kinder Relief agency, which has helped dozens of children get medical treatment.
But Sally also approached humanitarian groups Project Pure Hope and Direct Relief, to fund a private charter jet, so that specialists could help some of the children in Europe.
She revealed how she feared the mission might be scuppered at the final moment as she encountered issues with paperwork and logistics.
She said: ‘It wasn’t until 2am on Monday that we finally had the clearance for the children to fly, and we were flying at 9am in the morning – there was just hours to spare.
Children being offloaded from ambulances after arriving in Trieste, Italy, April 30, 2024
Ahmad Shabbat, who lost most of his family and both limbs in bombing in Gaza at the start of the war, was on board the mercy flight
Children and their travel companions waiting to board a flight to Italy from Cairo, Egypt, April 29, 2024
‘Gaza Kinder Relief had to get them all moved in the last couple of days to Cairo and one little girl, Julia, only crossed the Gaza border the night before, so we didn’t even know if they would make it in time.’
Sally’s plane touched down with three doctors and a nurse on board at a military base in Egypt on Monday, where the sick and injured kids were waiting for them with their mothers and siblings.
Five had explosive injuries and amputations while the remaining four were suffering from a range of sicknesses, which included long-term congenital conditions.
Sally said about meeting them: ‘When we receive these referrals straight from the hospitals I get to see the injuries when they first happen and it’s just awful.
‘Of course, it’s different now because several weeks or months later their wounds have healed to some extent, and they are in need of revisional surgeries so they can be fitted with prosthetic limbs
‘But it’s like the photos have come to life. Suddenly this shocking picture of a child that could be any of the thousands of children who were injured is holding my hand.’
The kids later disembarked at Trieste Airport airport at around 1am on Tuesday, where the local authorities had lined up emergency vehicles for them.
But Sally remembered the moment when 14-year-old Kamal, who had lost a leg just below his groin, refused to be carried off the plane and came down the steps himself.
She said: ‘They wanted him to go on a stretcher or in a wheelchair, and he absolutely refused. He was walking with his crutches no matter what.’
‘He’ll get, as they all will, advanced prosthetics made especially for them in Bologna once their wounds are sufficiently healed.’
Despite the comfort of knowing that she had helped these children, Sally said it was a sad fact of modern-day conflict that so many civilians are caught in the firing line.
She said: ‘If there has to be war, then I wish it could be like it was not so long ago, when armies would fight their battles in some far-flung field and the women and the children would stay safe at home.
‘Instead it’s the women and the children who suffer most of all.’
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