Medical teams at the UAE's floating hospital in Egypt have carried out critical operations on another four patients from Gaza under a major humanitarian drive.
The medics treated complex femur and hip fractures, as well as carrying out bone reconstruction surgery. Doctors said the patients are to receive follow-up care onboard the ship after the successful operations.
The hospital, which is docked at Al Arish and began operations on February 24, 2024, is central to the UAE's relief efforts for Gazans, which began after Israel began its war on the enclave on October 2023. The hospital is equipped with advanced surgical and intensive care units, a radiology department and laboratories. It has 100 beds for patients and an additional 100 for accompanying relatives.
In November 2025, officials announced medics on the floating hospital had conducted more than 5,000 surgeries since the humanitarian initiative was launched.
Support for Gaza's health sector
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The UAE's floating hospital in Al Arish, Egypt, has provided treatment for thousands of Gazans. All photos: Victor Besa / The National -
Nashaat Abdul Bari, 31, is among the patients at the hospital, which was established in February 2024. -
Palestinians Zain Aldery, seven, and his sister Assil, 21. The hospital was set up as part of the UAE's Operation Gallant Knight 3. -
Ayman Ibrahim, a patient on the vessel, where thousands of surgical procedures have been carried out to help those injured in Israel's war on Gaza. -
Patients read the Quran during Ramadan on the floating hospital. -
Palestinian handicrafts onboard hospital, where social and recreational activities are held, including programmes for children. -
Patients receive care from an Emirati medical and administrative team, working alongside Indonesian staff. -
Ship staff onboard the hospital at Al Arish. Operation Gallant Knight 3 was launched by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed. -
The floating hospital has 100 patient beds, with 100 more for accompanying relatives.
The UAE has taken significant steps to bolster Gaza's under-pressure health sector, which is reeling from the effects of the conflict even as a fragile ceasefire remains in place. As well as establishing the floating hospital, the UAE opened a 150-bed field hospital in Gaza in December 2023.
The Emirates on Thursday opened a medical centre in the north of the enclave in support of its mission to improve the lives of Palestinians bearing the brunt of the humanitarian crisis. The UAE Medical Centre, part of the Operation Gallant Knight 3 aid campaign, is designed to strengthen Gaza's healthcare system, providing primary and therapeutic care to patients in the enclave, state news agency Wam reported.
It is the second medical centre to be established in Gaza under Operation Gallant Knight 3, after a medical centre was set up in the southern city of Khan Younis. Together, the centres form part of a wider plan to ensure medical care reaches as many people as possible across the enclave.
This month, the UAE unveiled an expanded prosthetics support programme for Palestinians who have lost limbs in the war. Under the Step of Hope programme, patients will be assessed at the floating hospital, where measurements will be taken for prosthetic limbs.
Teams in Gaza will use 3D scanning to “map patients' residual limbs”. The data will be shared with staff at the floating hospital, where the prosthetic will be made and given to the patient.
“Step of Hope embodies the UAE’s unwavering commitment to alleviating the suffering of our Palestinian brothers and sisters,” Mohamed Al Sharif, official spokesman for Operation Gallant Knight 3, said after the launch of the initiative.
