A first group of sick and wounded children from Gaza are headed to Britain under a scheme allowing them to receive medical treatment, the UK’s health ministry confirmed Sunday.

The government has said the scheme is essential due to the lack of vital medicines and supplies in Gaza and medical workers being unable to do their jobs safely.

“We expect the children and their immediate family members to arrive in the UK in the coming weeks,” said a health ministry statement, noting that no flight details would be released “for operational security reasons”.

The Daily Mirror newspaper reported that the children are being cared for by medics in another country in the region, before coming to Britain for treatment.

A small number of injured Palestinian children have already been brought to Britain under a private programme, Project Pure Hope.

Ministers have not said how many children will arrive under the new scheme, with reports that the first cohort could comprise 30 to 50.