The UAE has sent 6 additional aircraft to support and speed up the construction of a field hospital in Gaza to support the Palestinian people….reports Asian Lite News
The UAE yesterday sent six additional aircraft carrying supplies and equipment to support the construction of the field hospital, set to be established in the Gaza Strip. The aircraft, which departed from Abu Dhabi and are bound for Al-Arish International Airport, Egypt, are part of the UAE’s Operation “Gallant Knight 3”, launched by the UAE to support the Palestinian people.
The UAE sent five aircraft, which arrived at Al-Arish International Airport earlier this week, carrying the equipment and supplies required to operate the field hospital, in line with the UAE’s drive to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people and support the health sector in the Gaza Strip.
The field hospital, with a 150-bed capacity, is set to be established in multiple stages. It will encompass departments for general surgery, orthopaedics, paediatrics, and gynaecology, in addition to anaesthesia and intensive care units catering to both children and adults. The facility will also house clinics for internal medicine, dentistry, psychiatry, and family medicine. Supplementary services will include CT imaging, a laboratory, a pharmacy, and other medical support functions.
The UAE previously announced the provision of urgent aid to the Palestinian people, amounting to $20 million, and an initiative to bring approximately 1,000 Palestinian children from the Gaza Strip – accompanied by their families – for medical treatment at UAE hospitals. Additionally, a community relief campaign for Palestinians affected by the current conflict has been launched in the UAE under the slogan ‘Compassion for Gaza’.
‘Average of 160 kids dying per day’
The World Health Organization (WHO) said that as the raging Israel-Hamas conflict has completed a month since it erupted on October 7, more than 10,000 people, or some 0.5 per cent of the total population in the besieged enclave, have reportedly been killed, with an average of 160 children dying per day.
So far, 16 health workers have been killed on duty, and the WHO is working to support health workers in Gaza and once again pleading for their safety, the world body’s spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said during a press briefing in Geneva.
Lindmeier said 102 attacks against healthcare had been recorded in Gaza, 121 in the West Bank, and 25 in Israel. At the moment, 14 hospitals in Gaza were not functioning, due to the lack of fuel or the damages, he added.
Noting that Tuesday marked a month since the war, the WHO official said that people in the Jewish nation were frightened and worried about more than 200 hostages, reiterating the call for the immediate release of all the hostages, many of whom need urgent medical attention.
He also said that some doctors in Gaza have been performing operations, including amputations, without anesthesia. “Nothing justifies the horror being endured by civilians in Gaza,” Lindmeier said, stressing their “desperate need for water, fuel, food and safe access to health care to survive”.
The WHO spokesman reiterated the UN’s calls for “unhindered, safe and secure access” for some 500 trucks of aid a day — not only across the border but also “all the way through to the patients in the hospitals”, where surgeries including amputations were being performed without anesthesia.
The level of death and suffering is “hard to fathom”, he added.
According to the Gaza-based Palestinian Health Ministry, the death toll since the beginning of the conflict stood at 10,328 as of Wednesday morning, with 24,408 people injured. Of the total fatalities, 67 per cent are said to be children and women, the Ministry said, adding that some 2,450 people, including 1,350 kids, have been reported missing and may be trapped or dead under the rubble.
Overall, about 1,400 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in the Jewish nation, according to authorities. The names of 1,159 of these fatalities have been released, including 828 civilians. The death toll among Israeli soldiers in Gaza remains 30, official Israeli sources have confirmed.
Some 240 people are held captive in Gaza, including Israelis and foreign nationals. Media reports indicate that about 30 of the hostages are children. So far, four civilian hostages have been released by Hamas, and a female Israeli soldier was rescued by Israeli forces. Hamas has claimed that 57 of the hostages were killed by Israeli airstrikes.