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The UAE's floating hospital in Egypt has opened a physiotherapy department to provide essential care to Palestinian patients injured during the year-long Israel war.
The 100-bed vessel – docked off the coast of the city of Al Arish – was established in February to ease the huge strain placed on Gaza's overwhelmed health centres, which have also come under heavy bombardment during the conflict.
The hospital's medical team said in July that more than 2,400 Gazans had been treated on board in its first five months of operation.
The new department will offer daily support to patients with prosthetic limbs and those who have undergone surgeries such as joint replacements.
In its initial phase, the department is set to receive and treat 60 cases, with plans to expand and increase services.
Floating hospital - in pictures
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Doctors from Gaza on the UAE floating field hospital docked off the coast of Al Arish, in Egypt. All photos: Chris Whiteoak / The National -
The UAE's floating field hospital is a 100-bed repurposed vessel -
A doctor from Gaza on the UAE floating field hospital -
Doctors have treated hundreds of patients from Gaza on the UAE floating field hospital -
Dr Hamd Al Ahmad with a young patient -
The floating hospital was established to ease the strain placed by the continuing war on Gaza's overwhelmed health centres -
A doctor on the UAE floating field hospital -
Doctors and patients from Gaza on the UAE floating field hospital -
Patient Adnan Shaheen on the UAE floating field hospital -
Doctors and patients from Gaza on the UAE floating field hospital -
Patients from Gaza on the UAE floating field hospital -
A young Palestinian in an ambulance on the floating field hospital -
A doctor from Gaza on the UAE floating field hospital
The facility is being led by medical, technical and nursing specialists from the Emirates and Indonesia, who will deliver the latest therapeutic techniques using state-of-the-art equipment, state news agency Wam reported.
The repurposed ship features operating rooms for a wide variety of surgeries, including intensive care and anaesthesia units, fully-equipped outpatient clinics, X-ray facilities, as well as a pharmacy and laboratory.
The hospital was launched as part of the UAE's continued support for the Palestinian people grappling with a humanitarian crisis.
More than 400 people have been killed in northern Gaza in the past two weeks, with the death toll since the war broke out on October 7, 2023, standing at 42,603, according to the latest figures from the enclave's health ministry.
