Three children evacuated from the Gaza Strip have completed complex surgeries and medical procedures in Yerevan under a humanitarian mission run with the World Health Organization, Armenia’s Ministry of Health confirmed, reports Zartonk Media.
The children arrived on September 30 accompanied by three guardians, in an operation coordinated by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. All three had serious conditions made worse by the war. The government had approved the transfers at its sitting on August 20, as Zartonk Media reported at the time.
One child was treated at Arabkir Medical Center after earlier liver and kidney transplants in 2014 and 2015. Doctors treated primary hyperoxaluria, a rare metabolic disorder, along with chronic kidney disease, liver failure, bilateral hearing loss, a ruptured eardrum and a severe skin infection in the knee. The transplanted organs are functioning satisfactorily and the patient is being discharged.
The other two were operated on at Nork-Marash Medical Center for congenital heart defects. One has reached satisfactory condition and is preparing to go home, while the second needed a further operation that doctors judged clinically necessary and is recovering.
Armenia first disclosed the initiative on January 29, when Zhirayr Ananyan, the country’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, told a Security Council open debate on the Middle East that Armenia was working with the WHO to arrange hospital treatment for dozens of children from Gaza.
By April the WHO had sent Armenian authorities medical certificates and identity documents for 40 children and their companions, and specialists began assessing which cases Armenian hospitals could handle. The Ministry of Health expected to select around a dozen.
Of 11 patients assessed, 7 were judged suitable for treatment in Armenia. Only three of those families accepted the terms, under which each child could be accompanied by one person.
The government allocated 16.7 million drams, about $43,000, from its reserve fund for the mission. The money covered airfare, short-term accommodation, visa fees, food and clothing, and the full cost of the surgeries and hospital stays.
Armenia recognized the State of Palestine in June 2024, prompting Israel to summon its ambassador for what its foreign ministry called a harsh reprimand. Three months earlier Armenia had sent its first humanitarian shipment to Gaza, 30 tons of food and medicine. In May 2024, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan offered Armenia’s manuscript depository to temporarily shelter manuscripts from Gaza, saying the country was ready to help preserve written heritage from conflict zones.
The Ministry of Health said it intends to receive further groups of children from Gaza who need urgent treatment, and that future transfers depend on humanitarian, security, logistical and financial conditions.
