UAE aid lorries carrying 247 tonnes of food enter Gaza Strip

Key support for Palestinian people is part of UAE's humanitarian operation

Part of the convoy taking aid into the Gaza Strip. Wam

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Ten UAE aid lorries arrived in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, loaded with more than 247 tonnes of food for thousands of Palestinians in the besieged enclave.

The convoy – carrying 16,520 food parcels – is part of the UAE's continuing humanitarian support for civilians caught up in the Israel-Gaza war.

The crucial supplies were delivered on the third day of a four-day pause in fighting between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip.

More than 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza have faced heavy and continuous Israeli air strikes and ground assaults since the October 7 attack by Hamas.

The group killed about 1,200 Israelis and took about 200 hostage. Israel's retaliatory attacks have killed more than 14,500.

UAE pledges support

The UAE has been delivering vital assistance to Palestinians since the war broke out.

President Sheikh Mohamed this month ordered the Joint Operations Command of the Ministry of Defence to begin a humanitarian operation in the Gaza Strip.

Sheikh Mohamed directed the command to work with UAE humanitarian organisations including the Emirates Red Crescent, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation and Zayed bin Sultan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation to provide support under the Gallant Knight 3 operation.

He also said doctors registered with the Ministry of Health and Prevention and the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi could volunteer for the initiative, state news agency Wam reported.

The UAE earlier announced it would set up a field hospital in the Gaza Strip as part of Gallant Knight 3.

The hospital will have 150 beds and general surgery, orthopaedics, paediatrics and gynaecology units for adults and children, as well as dentistry, psychiatry, family medicine and internal medicine facilities.

The UAE is to treat 1,000 Palestinian cancer patients in its hospitals, Sheikh Mohamed announced last week.

The move came only hours after the first of 1,000 injured children arrived in Abu Dhabi on a medical flight. Many require complex treatment for lost limbs and burns.

The 2,000 patients will be accompanied by family members or guardians.

Donation drives and aid collection campaigns have also been held across the Emirates in a show of solidarity with the Palestinian people.