Fifth batch of UAE medical volunteers head to Gaza to treat wounded Palestinians

It brings the total number of medical volunteers from the Emirates to 43, after nine others were flown out last week

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Another group of medical workers have left the UAE for Gaza to help treat wounded Palestinians in the continuing conflict with Israel.

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

It brings the total number of UAE medical volunteers to 43, after nine others were flown to Gaza last week.

The UAE's field hospital in the Gaza Strip has tended to more than 757 patients since it opened, offering treatment from first-aid to life-saving surgery, state news agency Wam reported.

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

It 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.

This week, the UAE sent more than 1.6 million pieces of warm clothing and blankets to Gaza to help Palestinians cope with the harsh winter conditions.

The aid convoy was overseen by the Emirates Red Crescent, the humanitarian arm of the UAE government, as part of its 'Be their Warmth' campaign.

The crucial supplies – which are to be distributed in phases – will support those struggling without shelter as temperatures plunge and the Israel-Gaza war rages on.

More than 21,100 people have been killed in Gaza since the war broke out on October 7, the enclave's Health Ministry said.

The vast majority of Gaza's 2.2-million population is believed to have been displaced, highlighting the urgent need for humanitarian aid.

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