A group of Conservative MPs have asked International Development Secretary Justine Greening to use UK aid to help fund an Israeli medical charity which treats critically ill children.

In a letter to Ms Greening, the 25 MPs described how Save a Child’s Heart (SACH) brings children from developing countries to Israel to undergo life-saving heart surgery.

More than 50 per cent of the 4,000 children who have received treatment have come from Gaza and the West Bank.

The MPs, including Sir Eric Pickles, Matthew Offord, Suella Fernandes and James Cleverly, witnessed the work of SACH on a visit to the Wolfson Medical Centre, in Holon, organised by Conservative Friends of Israel.

“The positive interaction encouraged and facilitated by SACH between Israeli and Palestinians is something we wholeheartedly endorse,” the MPs wrote.

“We believe that UK government involvement in this laudable charity would be extremely worthwhile.”