Popemobile to become a health clinic for Gaza -children

One of Francis’s popemobiles, who greeted the late Pontiff thousands of people, will be converted into a mobile health clinic to help the children of Gaza.

After a request from Pope Francis, the vehicle that was used during his visit to Bethlehem in 2014 will again be near everything needed for Frontliniezorg in a war zone, said Charity Organization Caritas, which supervises the project.

“There will be fast tests, attachment kits, spraying, oxygen supplies, vaccines and a small fridge for storing medicines,” it said in a statement.

The Vatican said it was the “last wish for the children of Gaza” of the pope before he died last month. The vehicle is currently in Bethlehem and will enter Gaza if and when Israel opens a humanitarian course.

The war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 15,000 children and displaced almost a million since it broke out in October 2023, Unicef ​​reports.

Israel has blocked humanitarian aid From entering the strip for more than two months, making “families have difficulty surviving”, because food, clean water and medicines reach critically low levels, the UN agency for children said.

For the time being, Caritas will have to wait until Israel reopens the Aid Corridor – but when that happens, they say they will be ready.

“With the vehicle we can reach children who do not have access to health care today – children who are injured and malnourished,” said Peter Brune, secretary -general of Caritas Sweden, in a statement.

A team of doctors will run the mobile clinic, which has the possibilities to examine and treat patients, and there will be a dedicated driver. Some details are still being completed, such as how to make the vehicle against potential explosions, Mr. Brune told the BBC.

“It’s not just a vehicle, it’s a message that the world has not forgotten the children in Gaza,” he said.

During his pontificate, Pope Francis made many passionate comments about the war in Gaza, and called the humanitarian situation in the comic “embarrassing”. During his last speech on Easter Sunday, he insisted on all “warring parties” to agree with a cease -the fire and spoke about the suffering of Palestinians and Israelis.

For 18 months war, reportedly Parishioners mentioned at night in Gaza To control their well -being and suggested that the international community should investigate whether the military offensive of Israel in Gaza should be classified as a genocide – a statement that Israel has strongly denied.

The Popemobile is one of a number of specially converted vehicles that allows the pope to greet huge crowds during official visits. He was able to sit or stand while it continued, flanked by security agents, and the design left those who collected to have a clear view of the pope.

Popemobiles in the past were bullet -free after a murder attack on Pope John Paul II in 1981, but Francis told the Spanish media in 2014 that he could not “Sardine” the glass that divorced him from people.

The Israeli army launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross -border attack on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were held hostage. Hamas still holds 59 hostages.

The military campaign of Israel has killed at least 52,243 Palestinians, according to Hamas-Runned Health Minister of Hamas.

On Monday, the security cabinet of Israel is reportedly approved in principle, A plan to resume deliveries and distribution of humanitarian aid Through private companies, but the UN and other aid organizations said that the proposal would be a violation of the basic humanitarian principles and that they will not work together.