The United Arab Emirates is one of the most prominent countries that have supported the Palestinian people in various humanitarian crises, based on its historical and humanitarian approach in supporting the Palestinians, which was established by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may God bless his soul. This upward trajectory has continued in the approach of the current Emirati leadership, as the UAE has continued to provide support to Palestine for decades.

The UAE's aid extended to several areas in Palestine, including the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem, Jenin, and the entire West Bank. It included building residential cities, providing health services, providing financial support, and implementing development projects, in addition to the urgent aid provided by the UAE in crises, such as the one currently facing the Gaza Strip, where the UAE provided urgent aid to those affected and the people in Gaza who have been suffering from the burden of difficult conditions and major daily challenges for nearly a year.

Emirati initiatives to support Gaza

Since the beginning of the war, the UAE has rushed to launch humanitarian initiatives to alleviate the suffering of the people of the Gaza Strip, alleviate the pain of the sick, treat the injured, and lift the suffering of the Palestinian people. These initiatives included providing food, medicine, and medical supplies, in addition to emphasizing the need to provide protection for civilians, spare them the dangers of war, and preserve the lives of civilians and life facilities in accordance with international humanitarian law.

air bridges

Air bridges were launched to transport humanitarian aid from UAE airports to El Arish Airport in Egypt, as part of Operation "Gallant Knight 3" under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, to provide humanitarian and relief support to the people of the Gaza Strip, and to develop various initiatives to meet the needs of those affected. This operation included dropping aid through air operations under the title "Birds of Goodness", and implementing relief campaigns. Cooperation was also made with international charitable organizations, most notably the Central Kitchen Foundation, by sending aid shipments to the Gaza Strip via the previously existing sea corridor.

Collective efforts

Emirati charitable institutions, such as the Emirates Red Crescent, Emirates Humanitarian City, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, Zayed bin Sultan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation, and other humanitarian and charitable institutions in the UAE, worked in complete harmony to implement the objectives of Operation “Gallant Knight 3”. The door to volunteering was opened to many doctors registered with the Ministry of Health and the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi, and volunteers registered with the Emirates Red Crescent and charitable institutions in the UAE.

Treatment outside the sector

The UAE established the Emirati floating hospital off the coast of the city of Arish, which has 100 beds and has received hundreds of cases for treatment. It also established the Emirati field hospital in southern Gaza under the supervision of an Emirati medical team, with more than 100 medical and pharmaceutical cadres and laboratory technicians working in it. The hospital has treated more than 48,320 cases since its opening on December 2, 2023.

His Highness the President of the UAE also directed the treatment of 1,000 children from the Gaza Strip in the UAE’s hospitals, and the provision of all types of medical and health care they need, until they recover and return, in addition to hosting 1,000 Palestinians suffering from cancer from the Strip of different age groups, to receive treatment and all types of health care they need in the country’s hospitals, and hosting patients and their families in the Emirates Humanitarian City, which is a pioneering model in charitable work, where more than 1,500 of the targeted cases have arrived.

In the context of financial support, the UAE provided $20 million through UNRWA, in addition to other donations to support the health and food sectors in Gaza, such as allocating financial contributions to support the efforts of Sigrid Kaag, the United Nations Senior Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs and Reconstruction in Gaza, in addition to providing two grants to support the food and health sectors in the Gaza Strip to provide direct food support, and to support the health sector in Gaza, especially for children, in cooperation with the World Health Organization.

"Mercy for Gaza" Campaign

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the Emirates Red Crescent and the World Food Programme, launched the "Compassion for Gaza" campaign, in which more than 24,000 volunteers participated. During the campaign, 71,000 relief packages were prepared through events organized in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman, with the participation of 20 charitable institutions. In addition, $15 million was allocated to support the "Amalthea Fund", with the aim of supporting the former maritime humanitarian corridor between Cypriot ports and Gaza.

Infrastructure and water support

As part of its ongoing efforts, the UAE has provided automatic bakeries to provide it to tens of thousands of residents in Gaza, in addition to establishing water desalination plants that provide more than one million gallons of water daily, benefiting hundreds of thousands of residents of the Strip.

In terms of food aid, the UAE has delivered more than 2,000 tons of food supplies by sea to the Gaza Strip, in cooperation with the United States Agency for International Development, the United States, Cyprus, and the United Nations, in partnership with ANERA, in addition to 300 tons of food aid to the northern Gaza Strip, via the sea corridor, in cooperation with the World Central Kitchen Foundation. It has also sent 8 aid ships to the port of El Arish, carrying more than 18,500 tons of food supplies, to enter the Strip and deliver them to residents in various areas.