A little girl with a severe heart condition was awaiting life-saving surgery yesterday after being rescued from Gaza during the 72-hour ceasefire.

Halal al-Massri was whisked out of the warzone on Saturday with the help of three organisations, including British children’s charity Chain of Hope.

She was admitted to the Royal Brompton hospital where she will undergo heart surgery as soon as she recovers from the gruelling journey.

Chain of Hope chief executive Emma Scalan spoke publicly yesterday about the Palestinian tot’s condition since arriving in Britain.

She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that Hala’s condition was stabilising but that doctors were not yet sure when her surgery would take place.

She added that the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) would usually have been able to perform the surgery Hala needed but that “Heart surgery won’t be their priority given what’s going on in Gaza.”

During the recent conflict Hala and her family saw their house bombed during Israeli air-strikes and the toddler’s health quickly deteriorated as her oxygen bottles were destroyed.

The International Committee of the Red Cross then helped Chain of Hope and the PCRF in getting Hala out of Gaza and bringing her to Britain in a three day journey.

“They were escorted out of the Strip by British Red Cross surgeon David Nott who also accompanied the family on the flight to London where he had to administer oxygen when Hala took a turn for the worse” said a British Red Cross spokesman.