Charity funds Gaza medics' UK studies

Two medical students displaced from Gaza will have their studies in the UK paid for by a charity.

The pair were the first to come to the UK under the University of Leicester's Displaced Medical Student Initiative to support people with studies affected by war, natural disasters and persecution worldwide.

Both students, named by the university as Mariam and Layla to protect their identities, were unable to study in the Palestinian Territories as all universities in Gaza have been partly or fully destroyed.

Their four-year course in Leicester will be funded by a £78,000 donation from UK-based The Hanoon Foundation (THF) which supports medical education in the Palestinian occupied territories.

The university will waive tuition fees for students accepted through the initiative while a fund has also been set up to support its future.

Chairman Dr Ahmed Massoud said THF was "proud" to support the initiative and help Mariam, who is from the Al-Azhar University of Gaza, and Islamic University of Gaza student Layla.

He said: "Such students will form the spine of the future rebuilt healthcare system in Gaza and the rest of Palestine."

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas' cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 54,056 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 3,901 over the past 10 weeks, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Layla said: "Gaza is entirely unsafe, entirely destroyed, or burned, including my home university, which has been bombed many times.

"Despite nothing being clear, I'm counting days to go back to rebuild my Gaza, practice medicine there, give a hand to the most brave, innocent people, and live there until death."

Mariam said coming to study in Leicester in 2024 "came at a time when hope was fading".

She said: "I have a lot of mixed feelings, but the most important ones are that I am grateful and happy to seize an opportunity like this.

"On the other hand, I carry a sense of guilt for being here while my colleagues are still facing challenges without similar opportunities."

Prof Shameq Sayeed, Leicester Medical School's Director of International Teaching Partnerships, said: "Though their displacement – with family and friends still under constant threat in Gaza – constitutes an ongoing and unimaginable challenge, this funding removes at least one of the barriers to the students' ability to complete their studies and return to Gaza as doctors."

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