Watch: Wounded Palestinian children set for evacuation to UAE

First group of children and their families wait to begin journey to receive urgent treatment in Emirates

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A girl who lost her arm in an Israeli air strike and another hit with shrapnel in her stomach are among the first children to be flown to the UAE for specialist medical treatment.

Squeezed on to a gurney with another sick child, Kenzi Adam requires her injured right stump to be operated on after 25 days of suffering.

Speaking to The National just before they crossed into Egypt, her father said he longed for his daughter to be saved.

"We want treatment for her, as there is lack of sufficient care in Gaza, or access to the right medicine and services," he said.

The UAE said it will treat 1,000 Palestinian children in UAE hospitals, with parents and guardians able to travel with them. The complex journey to the Emirates, via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, began on Friday.

Another child, cradling a cuddly toy, she said was struck in the stomach by flying debris when a bomb hit close to her school.

The families will need to cross the Rafah border crossing to exit Gaza into Egypt, before heading to Al Arish airport, where flights will take them to the UAE.

Thousands of children are in desperate need of medical treatment, many with severe burns and other injuries sustained in Israel's bombardment of Gaza, since war broke out on October 7.