A third batch of UAE volunteers travelled to the Gaza Strip to provide Palestinians with medical treatment and care. Wam
A third batch of UAE volunteers travelled to the Gaza Strip to provide Palestinians with medical treatment and care. Wam
A third batch of UAE volunteers travelled to the Gaza Strip to provide Palestinians with medical treatment and care. Wam
A third batch of UAE volunteers travelled to the Gaza Strip to provide Palestinians with medical treatment and care. Wam

More UAE medical volunteers head to field hospital in Gaza


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More medical workers have left the UAE for Gaza to help people injured by the conflict with Israel.

Nine volunteers make up the third batch who will join other doctors and nurses to care for Palestinians.

In the past two weeks, the UAE's field hospital in the Gaza Strip, which has 150 beds, has treated 291 cases from first aid and medication to surgery and intensive care, state news agency Wam reported.

The hospital was opened on December 2 as part of the Gallant Knight 3 humanitarian operation ordered by President Sheikh Mohamed.

  • Medical staff boarding a UAE plane headed for Al Arish, Egypt, from Abu Dhabi International Airport. All photos: Pawan Singh / The National
    Medical staff boarding a UAE plane headed for Al Arish, Egypt, from Abu Dhabi International Airport. All photos: Pawan Singh / The National
  • The plane will bring back cancer patients and wounded people for treatment in the Emirates
    The plane will bring back cancer patients and wounded people for treatment in the Emirates
  • The aircraft has been fitted with hospital beds
    The aircraft has been fitted with hospital beds
  • The UAE has committed to providing free medical care for 1,000 injured children and another 1,000 Palestinians with cancer
    The UAE has committed to providing free medical care for 1,000 injured children and another 1,000 Palestinians with cancer
  • Doctors and nurses from local hospitals volunteered to be part of the operation
    Doctors and nurses from local hospitals volunteered to be part of the operation

The hospital includes operating rooms equipped to perform general, paediatric, and vascular surgery, as well as intensive care rooms for adults and children, an anaesthesia department, and specialised clinics including internal medicine, dentistry, orthopaedics, psychiatry, family medicine, paediatrics, and gynaecology.

The hospital can also carry out computed tomography (CT) and X-ray scans, has a pharmacy and a laboratory.

This week, the UAE began work at the first of three desalination plants it is building on the Mediterranean coast on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border to send potable water into Gaza.

The UAE plants are expected to provide 300,000 Gazans with treated water daily.

While that alone is not enough, it is an important step in relieving the suffering of Palestinians after Israel largely cut water, electricity and food supplies to the enclave after the Hamas attack on October 7.

Israel-Gaza war protests - in pictures

  • A protester in Sana'a, Yemen, covering his face with a keffiyeh. EPA
    A protester in Sana'a, Yemen, covering his face with a keffiyeh. EPA
  • Izzat Hirbawi showing a keffiyeh at the textile factory in Hebron. Reuters
    Izzat Hirbawi showing a keffiyeh at the textile factory in Hebron. Reuters
  • A newly-recruited member of the Houthis' popular army covering his face with a keffiyeh during a parade in Sana'a, Yemen. EPA
    A newly-recruited member of the Houthis' popular army covering his face with a keffiyeh during a parade in Sana'a, Yemen. EPA
  • Two people wear Palestinian keffiyehs, during a Pro-Palestinian demonstration march in Madrid, Spain. AP
    Two people wear Palestinian keffiyehs, during a Pro-Palestinian demonstration march in Madrid, Spain. AP
  • A Palestinian child wearing a keffiyeh and carrying a Palestinian flag during a protest in Beirut, Lebanon. EPA
    A Palestinian child wearing a keffiyeh and carrying a Palestinian flag during a protest in Beirut, Lebanon. EPA
  • A worker sewing at the Hirbawi keffiyeh in Hebron. AFP
    A worker sewing at the Hirbawi keffiyeh in Hebron. AFP
  • A worker sewing at the Hirbawi keffiyeh factory in Hebron. AFP
    A worker sewing at the Hirbawi keffiyeh factory in Hebron. AFP
  • A worker stands over a loom at a textile factory producing the Palestinian Keffiyeh scarf in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. AFP
    A worker stands over a loom at a textile factory producing the Palestinian Keffiyeh scarf in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. AFP
  • Workers producing the traditional keffiyeh in Hebron. AFP
    Workers producing the traditional keffiyeh in Hebron. AFP
  • A worker stands over a loom at the Hirbawi textile factory producing the Palestinian Keffiyeh scarf in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. AFP
    A worker stands over a loom at the Hirbawi textile factory producing the Palestinian Keffiyeh scarf in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. AFP
  • A worker stands over a loom at a textile factory producing the Palestinian Keffiyeh scarf in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. AFP
    A worker stands over a loom at a textile factory producing the Palestinian Keffiyeh scarf in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. AFP
  • A protester flashing the V for victory sign as people march during a demonstration near the US embassy in the capital Amman in solidarity with the people of Gaza. AFP
    A protester flashing the V for victory sign as people march during a demonstration near the US embassy in the capital Amman in solidarity with the people of Gaza. AFP
  • Two pro-Palestinian protestors pose outside the Hilton Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where US President Joe Biden was attended a fundraiser on December 11, 2023. AFP
    Two pro-Palestinian protestors pose outside the Hilton Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where US President Joe Biden was attended a fundraiser on December 11, 2023. AFP
  • Pro-Palestinian protestors gathering outside of the New York Times building to protest the newspaper’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war in New York City. Getty
    Pro-Palestinian protestors gathering outside of the New York Times building to protest the newspaper’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war in New York City. Getty
  • A family in Mansfield, Massachusetts taking part in a protest calling for a cease fire in the war in Gaza. AP
    A family in Mansfield, Massachusetts taking part in a protest calling for a cease fire in the war in Gaza. AP
  • A demonstrator covering her face with a keffiyeh during a rally in support of the Palestinian people, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. EPA
    A demonstrator covering her face with a keffiyeh during a rally in support of the Palestinian people, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. EPA
Updated: December 18, 2023, 12:04 PM