Letter read by The Jerusalem Post invokes Holocaust-era rescue precedent to argue for “children’s exception” in wartime policy.

A Holocaust survivor and descendants of children rescued from Nazi Germany have urged Israel’s High Court of Justice to ensure access to life-saving medical care for children in Gaza, according to a copy of the letter read by The Jerusalem Post.

In the letter, sent ahead of a Monday hearing on a petition to reopen a humanitarian medical corridor from Gaza to hospitals in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, the signatories argue that even during war, children must be afforded special protection, a principle they say was established during the rescue of Jewish children from Nazi Europe.

The Kindertransport (German for "children's transport") was a series of rescue operations that brought children, mostly Jewish, from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom between 1938 and 1940.

The letter signatories argue that "children's exception to war and extermination" should now be reaffirmed “to include emergency life-saving medical care for wounded and critically ill children of nearby Gaza.”

Signatories emphasize different circumstances but ethical similarity

The Kindertransport, carried out on the eve of World War II, saw approximately 10,000 Jewish children evacuated from Nazi-controlled Europe to Britain. Organized by Jewish groups alongside Christian organizations, the effort remains one of the most significant humanitarian rescue operations of the 20th century.

In their letter, the signatories stress that while the historical circumstances differ, the ethical lesson remains relevant to this day.

“Clearly, the suffering and fate of children living in Gaza and the fate of Jewish children living under the German Reich are not the same,” they wrote. “That being unequivocally said… the ‘children’s exception to war’… should be reaffirmed.”

The group includes one Kindertransport survivor and 17 descendants of those rescued, who note that their own lives were made possible by the willingness of governments and citizens to act in the face of humanitarian crises.

Petition seeks to restore mechanisms to allow Gazans to receive treatment outside the Strip

The appeal comes amid a broader legal challenge filed by five human rights organizations seeking to restore medical transfer mechanisms that had allowed Gazan patients to receive treatment outside the Strip for years.

According to the petition cited in the letter, the corridor has effectively been shut since the outbreak of war, leaving many critically ill children without access to adequate care.

The petition was filed by Physicians for Human Rights, Gisha, HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual, Adalah, and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.

Letter notes significance of decision to Israel's future

The letter frames the court’s upcoming ruling as one that will extend beyond the immediate legal question.

“The Court’s decision will not only adjudicate existing facts… but also help to formulate by example humanity’s shared future,” the signatories wrote.

They further warn that current policies may “sustain… the continued suffering of a substantial number of children within Gaza, including the likely death of some children,” while an alternative approach prioritizing medical access could “alleviate suffering and save lives.”

The letter continues, “The Kindertransport is not only about the past. We know from our own lives… that it is also about the future.”

For years prior to the war, thousands of Gazans were granted permits to receive care in Israeli, West Bank, and east Jerusalem hospitals. According to data referenced in the petition, that system has been largely halted, with only a very limited number of patients currently able to leave.