This initiative reflected the importance of urgent humanitarian intervention to save lives and embodied the UAE’s strong commitment to supporting the Palestinian people in their efforts to save lives. Gaza During the dire conditions surrounding the Gaza Strip, the UAE’s various lines of communication facilitated humanitarian efforts to provide support to the people of Gaza.
Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemi, UAE Minister of International Cooperation, said: “At this critical time, we cannot express the importance of this mission to evacuate wounded and sick Palestinians to Abu Dhabi. This unprecedented trajectory reflects the gravity of the humanitarian situation and our commitment to alleviating the suffering of the people of the Gaza Strip and ensuring access to… And to distributing humanitarian aid through all available methods, whether by land, sea or air. This initiative also confirms the support of the State. United Arab Emirates a permanent and historic relief for the Palestinian people, based on our firm conviction of the importance of providing immediate relief and promoting peace in the face of enormous suffering.”
Al Hashemi pointed out that the UAE received 709 patients from the Gaza Strip, in addition to 787 members of their families, to receive medical treatment in public hospitals in accordance with the directives of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the Emirates, to treat 2,000 cancer patients and patients from the Gaza Strip.
She added: “This expansion of the scope of the UAE’s efforts reflects our solidarity with the Palestinian people and our determination to alleviate their suffering and ensure the arrival of large-scale aid in an urgent, sustainable and unhindered manner through all available methods. The UAE also confirms its readiness and continued commitment to cooperate with international partners to ensure that aid reaches those who need it most.”
For his part, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, said: “We thank the United Arab Emirates for its support in the mission to evacuate the sick and wounded from the Gaza Strip to receive the urgent care they need. We hope that this initiative will pave the way for the establishment of evacuation corridors on all available routes, including the Kerem Abu Salem crossing to Jordan and the Rafah crossing to Egypt, and from there to other countries. We also call for the resumption of evacuations to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, where thousands of patients are suffering and, most importantly, as always, the World Health Organization has called for a ceasefire.
It is worth noting that the UAE has provided the Gaza Strip with more than 40,000 tons of emergency aid, including food, relief and medical supplies, via 8 ships, 337 flights, 50 airdrops and 1,271 trucks.
A few days ago, the fourth humanitarian ship from the United Arab Emirates arrived in a port Arishcarrying the eighth aid shipment, carrying 5,340 tonnes of humanitarian supplies, the largest weight since the start of relief operations in the Gaza Strip.
