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The UAE has carried out its 51st and 52nd drops of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip as part of Birds of Goodness operation.
According to the Joint Operations Command of the Ministry of Defence, the total amount of aid dropped since the launch of the operation has now reached 3,544 tonnes of food and relief supplies after two separate drops, on Thursday and Friday evening, were confirmed.
The aid drops are part of efforts to help families stranded in parts of the Gaza Strip that are difficult to reach by road. Packages comprised food items and essential supplies to cope with the challenging conditions faced by besieged residents, as part of the UAE's continuing humanitarian support for the Palestinian people.
Relief drops had been temporarily suspended over escalating conflict in the region and as a "precautionary measure to safeguard personnel, facilities and equipment", state news agency Wam reported.
The UAE dropped 38 tonnes of food and relief aid into Gaza on the first day of Eid Al Adha in June. It was carried out by a C17 aircraft belonging to the UAE Air Force.
So far, the UAE has sent tens of thousands of tonnes of humanitarian aid, including crucial medical and food supplies, since the start of the Israel-Gaza war on October 7, 2023.
Relief efforts include 104 convoys carrying 20,000 tonnes of aid, in addition to four ships loaded with a further 18,530 tonnes of goods. Another 5,340 tonnes have been dropped into Gaza from the air.
Two hospitals have been established as part of the UAE's programme to help those in need in Gaza, including one with a centre to provide prosthetic limbs to Palestinians wounded in the war. The field hospital in the southern Gaza Strip has 200 beds and more than 100 doctors, nurses, pharmacists and lab technicians. It has treated thousands of patients since it opened in December.
A 100-bed floating hospital, docked off the coast of the Egyptian city of Al Arish since February, had already treated about 2,400 Palestinians by July.
