Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
“It’s OK brother, stop crying, we’re finally safe and there’s no reason to be afraid any more,” a boy from Gaza told his younger sibling as they embraced thousands of feet in the air.
The pair were aboard a chartered plane carrying about 15 children, along with their families, to Abu Dhabi for medical treatment.
The group were evacuated late on Friday when the Rafah border crossing opened during a humanitarian pause after more than six weeks of Israeli bombardment on Gaza.
The injured and their relatives are the first of 1,000 women and children to be evacuated to the UAE under an initiative from President Sheikh Mohamed that will allow injured Palestinian children from Gaza to be flown in for treatment at UAE hospitals.
They crossed the Rafah border into Egypt’s Al Arish where more than 20 doctors, nurses and emergency medical technicians from the UAE’s Burjeel Hospital, NMC Royal Hospital and Sheikh Khalifa Medical City assessed them.
“We hope to receive the first group within the coming week,” Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE's Permanent Representative to the UN, told the UN Security Council.
Mohammed Khamis Al Kaabi, Head of the Emirates Red Crescent delegation to Egypt, told The National that the UAE group has been working with partners at the Egyptian and Palestinian Red Crescent to identify and assess who could make the journey and cross the Rafah border.
“The 15 or so people who crossed the border today are part of the first batch that will hopefully continue in the days and weeks to come as we try to facilitate the transfer of as many patients from Gaza to the UAE as we can help,” Mr Al Kaabi said.
The Emirati Red Crescent is building a field hospital near the Rafah border where those not medically fit to leave Al Arish can receive treatment.
Since the UAE announced the operation, named Gallant Knight 3, it has flown out several cargo planes carrying equipment and medical supplies for the hospital.
The hospital, Mr Al Kaabi said, will have 150 beds and include various specialised units such as surgery, orthopaedics, paediatrics and gynaecology, along with other essential medical services.
Specialist ICU and paediatricians were chosen from UAE hospitals, particularly those with experience in working with trauma patients.
“We have made preparations for this mission for several weeks now and, as is with war, we have thought of all the contingency plans we need to take care of in case anything that can change on the ground and for every possible scenario,” Tarek Wahba, a specialist physician in the intensive care department at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, told The National.
Specialist doctors including Dr Zainul Aabideen, a paediatric oncologist at Burjeel Hospital, were also flown in to tend to at least seven patients, most of them children, who were suffering from cancer to assess their medical needs before their flights to Abu Dhabi.
Gallant Knight 3 was launched on November 5 under the leadership of the Joint Operations Command at the Ministry of Defence in co-operation and co-ordination with the Emirates Red Crescent, the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, the Zayed Charitable Humanitarian Foundation, and other UAE institutions to provide humanitarian support to Palestinian people in Gaza.
The initiative also provides volunteering opportunities for doctors registered with the Ministry of Health and Prevention and the Department of Health Abu Dhabi and for volunteers registered with the Emirates Red Crescent and other aid charities.
Maha Barakat, UAE Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Health Affairs, said all medical and health teams and hospitals in the country were prepared to receive the remaining children and their families until they can return to Gaza safely.
“Since the beginning of the crisis, the UAE and its President have rushed to provide urgent humanitarian aid and supplies to the Gaza Strip,” she told The National.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh282,870
On sale: now
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
US PGA Championship in numbers
1 Joost Luiten produced a memorable hole in one at the par-three fourth in the first round.
2 To date, the only two players to win the PGA Championship after winning the week before are Rory McIlroy (2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) and Tiger Woods (2007, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational). Hideki Matsuyama or Chris Stroud could have made it three.
3 Number of seasons without a major for McIlroy, who finished in a tie for 22nd.
4 Louis Oosthuizen has now finished second in all four of the game's major championships.
5 In the fifth hole of the final round, McIlroy holed his longest putt of the week - from 16ft 8in - for birdie.
6 For the sixth successive year, play was disrupted by bad weather with a delay of one hour and 43 minutes on Friday.
7 Seven under par (64) was the best round of the week, shot by Matsuyama and Francesco Molinari on Day 2.
8 Number of shots taken by Jason Day on the 18th hole in round three after a risky recovery shot backfired.
9 Jon Rahm's age in months the last time Phil Mickelson missed the cut in the US PGA, in 1995.
10 Jimmy Walker's opening round as defending champion was a 10-over-par 81.
11 The par-four 11th coincidentally ranked as the 11th hardest hole overall with a scoring average of 4.192.
12 Paul Casey was a combined 12 under par for his first round in this year's majors.
13 The average world ranking of the last 13 PGA winners before this week was 25. Kevin Kisner began the week ranked 25th.
14 The world ranking of Justin Thomas before his victory.
15 Of the top 15 players after 54 holes, only Oosthuizen had previously won a major.
16 The par-four 16th marks the start of Quail Hollow's so-called "Green Mile" of finishing holes, some of the toughest in golf.
17 The first round scoring average of the last 17 major champions was 67.2. Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen shot 67 on day one at Quail Hollow.
18 For the first time in 18 majors, the eventual winner was over par after round one (Thomas shot 73).
