UAE aid lorries arrive in Gaza from Karam Abu Salem crossing

It is the first UAE aid convoy to reach the enclave since the Rafah border crossing closed in May

Lorries carrying aid going to Gaza are waiting in Al Arish after the Rafah crossing was closed on May 7 after the Israeli army entered Rafah. The UAE sent a convoy carrying 80 tonnes of aid through the Karam Abu Salem border crossing on Tuesday. EPAShow less

Lorries loaded with 80 tonnes of aid from the UAE have reached the Gaza Strip via the Karam Abu Salem border crossing.

This is the first UAE aid convoy to reach the enclave since the Rafah border crossing closed on May 6 after Israel's military seized control.

It contained essential relief materials, food parcels, dates and tents.

Volunteers from the Gallant Knight 3 operation have started distributing aid to displaced Palestinians across the Strip, state news agency Wam reported on Tuesday.

It comes a day after an aid ship from the UAE carrying urgent humanitarian supplies for the residents of Gaza set sail for the Egyptian port of Al Arish.

Since the launch of the aid mission in November, the UAE has provided 33,100 tonnes of urgent supplies to Gaza.

The figures, released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, illustrate that aid was delivered by 320 flights, seven ships and 1,243 lorries up until June 13.

Under the Gallant Knight 3 operation, the UAE has also established two hospitals, including a field hospital in the southern Gaza Strip and a floating hospital off the coast of Al Arish city.

It has also worked to set up five automatic bakeries and six desalination plants that produce 1.2 million gallons [more than 4.5 million litres] of clean drinking water a day to 600,000 people in the Gaza Strip.

A total of 3,382 tonnes of relief supplies were also sent to isolated parts of Gaza via aid drops.

The UAE's Operation Gallant Knight 3 has been providing the people of Gaza with drinking water from desalination plants in Rafah, Egypt, since December last year. Photos: Chris Whiteoak / The National

Engineer Khalid Al Naqbi is part of the UAE team responsible for addressing water scarcity in Gaza. More than 130 million gallons of drinking water have been delivered by a network of desalination plants built by the UAE in December

About half a dozen plants on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border produce about 1.6 million gallons of water daily

President Sheikh Mohamed ordered that work on Operation Gallant Knight 3 begin last year to include essential services to the Palestinian people, including water utilities, medical support and an air and sea supply chain

The UAE's logistics base at Al Arish in Egypt

Rashid Al Mansouri, secretary general of Emirates Red Crescent, at a relief materials warehouse in Al Arish

Warehouses at Al Arish are at the heart of the UAE's relief efforts for Gaza

A relief materials warehouse in Al Arish

The UAE's relief efforts to help the people of Gaza are labour intensive and demand co-ordination from administrators and staff

Medical supplies at Al Arish

Medical supplies from the UAE at Al Arish. The amount of essentials to assist the people of Gaza in their time of need reflects the extent of the disaster that has befallen them

The UAE's logistics base at Al Arish in Egypt