Popemobile child clinic yet to reach Gaza one year after Francis's death

On the first anniversary of the death of Pope Francis, one of his last wishes - to convert his popemobile into a mobile clinic for children and send it to war-torn Gaza - is still waiting to be granted.

"It was really the wish of the Holy Father to be able to do something for the children of Gaza," a close confidant of the late pontiff, Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Sweden, tells me. "It's a symbol of hope."

The iconic popemobile - from which the pope waved at crowds of thousands of Palestinian Christians during his trip to the Holy Land in 2014 - was afterwards kept on display outside a Church-owned ice-cream parlour in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.

Last November, I was shown the newly refitted vehicle equipped for trauma care and vaccinations and told it could treat up to 200 children a day. However, today it remains in a glass case in the same place.

Caritas Jerusalem - the local branch of the international Catholic charity, Caritas - carried out the work on the popemobile for the Vehicle of Hope project and planned to send the vehicle to Gaza.

Then, in December, it was included on a list of 37 foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs) ordered to stop work by the Israeli authorities after they failed to comply with controversial new "security and transparency" requirements, including staff disclosures.

Since then, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has successfully made the case that the new regulations do not apply to Caritas Jerusalem because it has a long-standing, special legal status "operating under the aegis and governance of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land".

Regarding the Vehicle of Hope, a local Caritas spokesperson told the BBC that the organisation was "in dialogue with the authorities" and that a permit for the converted popemobile was being processed through the Church.

In a statement, Cogat, the Israeli defence body which controls the crossings to Gaza, said it had arranged for two mobile clinics to be sent by the Latin Patriarchate in February and was "not aware of any request to bring additional vehicles into the Strip."

It added: "Should an orderly request be submitted through the accepted channels, it will be examined accordingly."

Cardinal Arborelius hopes that permission will soon be given for the converted popemobile to enter Gaza. "It's a purely humanitarian action, it has nothing to do with politics," he says.

"We think it could be very important for everyone. It would show the goodwill of the authorities of Israel, it will give hope to the people, and it will show that somehow the spiritual heritage of Pope Francis is respected."

"That was his wish, to create good relationships between all peoples, all religions, and especially in favour of children who have a very, very difficult situation."