The Dutch government will take in a limited number of seriously ill children from Gaza for medical treatment after all, reversing an earlier decision.

Foreign minister David van Weel told MPs in a briefing on Thursday that the children in question need highly specialised care and are in immediate danger. Hospitals in Gaza can no longer provide it because most of the healthcare system has collapsed.

“The number of cases the Netherlands can admit will be very limited,” he said, stressing that hospitals must also keep capacity available for Dutch patients.

Only a handful of hospitals in Gaza are still functioning, and staff are working under severe shortages and unsafe conditions. Other countries, including Italy, Spain and neighbouring states, are already treating patients from Gaza.

Extra €25 million in aid

The cabinet said earlier it is making €25 million available for humanitarian and medical aid. The money will fund treatments, specialist care, medicines and rehabilitation, as well as repairs to hospitals, water and sanitation facilities.

This support, Van Weel said, will give thousands of people better access to care and ease pressure on health systems in Egypt and Jordan, which are struggling with the influx of patients.

The move marks a change of course for the government. This summer MPs narrowly rejected a motion to bring Gaza children to the Netherlands, with prime minister Dick Schoof and VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz arguing it was better to treat them closer to home.