Helplessness and despair. News reports about the horrors of Gaza are an endless source of both. The accounts of families being bombed as they shelter in areas they thought were safe and the unimaginable death toll among children – all continuing in spite of outcry after outcry – make Britain and the rest of the world seem utterly impotent.

Britain’s diplomatic efforts may have achieved little in this conflict, but there is something we could do but haven’t. Something tangible and vital. Britain could save lives.

Around 2,000 children are among 10,000 Gazan people on the WHO’s medical evacuation list. They have been given approval to leave by Israel, but, reflecting back a conflict that has plumbed the depths of cynicism and inhumanity, Unicef reports they are struggling to find countries to take them. The charity suggests Britain and other European nations could each take a small fraction of these children, around 30. Thirty vital interventions for sick and dying children.

So far the UK has managed two.

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Police, flags, demonstrators and lots of Celtic tops - inside Kneecap's Glasgow gig

UNICEF calls on Scotland to take medical evacuees from Gaza

Last year Norway, which has eight per cent of the UK’s population, said it would take up to 20 medical evacuees from Gaza, of all ages. The first six, all under 16, arrived last........

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