UAE to set up fully equipped field hospital in Gaza

Facility with 150-bed capacity will include intensive care unit for children

Wounded Palestinians receive treatment at Al Shifa hospital following Israeli air strikes on Gaza city. AP

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The UAE is planning to set up a field hospital in the Gaza Strip as casualties continue to mount after a month of war.

President Sheikh Mohamed has ordered the fully equipped hospital to be erected as part of the Gallant Knight 3 humanitarian operation, according to state news agency Wam.

The 150-bed hospital, to be established in several stages, will house several departments focused on the care of adults and children.

The hospital “will encompass departments for general surgery, orthopaedics, paediatrics and gynaecology, in addition to anaesthesia and intensive care units catering to both children and adults, in addition to clinics in internal medicine, dentistry, a psychiatric clinic and family medicine”, Wam reported.

The establishment of the facility “is an embodiment of the UAE’s historical positions of support and support for the Palestinian brothers and standing by them during the difficult circumstances they are currently facing”.

Hospitals across the enclave have been forced to shut amid Israeli bombardment and shortages of fuel and electricity.

Thousands of people have also taken refuge inside hospitals as Israel intensifies its air strikes and ground invasion.

A pharmacy and laboratory as well as CT-scanning services will also be available at the field hospital.

The UAE has pledged $20 million in urgent aid to Gaza, where authorities say more than 10,000 people have been killed, including upwards of 4,000 children.

More than 35,000 others have been wounded, according to the enclave's Health Ministry.

Five aircraft carrying necessary supplies for the field hospital left Abu Dhabi on Monday, Wam reported.

The cargo will be delivered to Al Arish airport in Egypt before entering Gaza through the Rafah border crossing, through which a limited number of wounded Palestinians and foreign citizens have been allowed to leave.

A thousand Palestinian children will be treated in UAE hospitals following an order from the President.

The children will be accompanied to the UAE by their families.

The UAE has called on hospitals and civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip to be protected as Israeli air strikes continue.

“Announcements that they are targets or warnings for them to evacuate do not, I repeat, do not alter their protected status,” Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE's ambassador to the UN, said in late October.