UAE and World Health Organisation facilitate extremely complex medical evacuation of 148 Palestinians

The UAE and the World Health Organisation (WHO) carried out an extremely complex joint evacuation of 148 Palestinians to the Emirates for specialised care on Tuesday – in the largest medical evacuation since October 2023.

The Gaza crisis has been raging on since October 7 as Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israeli cities, killing some 1,200 people and taking several others hostages. Israel’s retaliatory strikes, on the other hand, have already claimed over 39,000 lives.

The group of Palestinians evacuated recently includes 85 sick and severely injured people, including cancer patients in need of extensive treatment, accompanied by 63 family members. The initiative reflects the UAE’s steadfast commitment to supporting Gazans.

UAE’s unflinching commitment to helping Palestinians

Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation, said that to date, the UAE has brought in 709 patients from Gaza, besides 787 of their family members, to receive treatment. It highlights the Gulf state’s commitment to alleviating the suffering of Gazans.

Last year, HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, President of UAE, issued directives to provide proper care for 1,000 injured patients and 1,000 cancer patients from the Gaza Strip at several Emirati hospitals. The UAE has also established a field hospital and a floating hospital.

Notably to date, the GCC nation has provided more than 40,000 tonnes of crucial humanitarian aid, including food, relief and medical items, through 8 aid ships, 337 flights, 50 airdrops and 1,271 trucks, as per media reports.

Ensuring urgent, sustainable, unhindered supply of aid to Gaza

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation, thanked the UAE for “organising the evacuation of these patients to receive the urgent care they need,” hoping for the establishment of evacuation corridors via all possible routes.

“Thousands of sick people are suffering needlessly,” he highlighted in his X post on Tuesday, stressing the need for a Gaza ceasefire. The patients evacuated recently had cancer, blood diseases, neurological conditions, cardiac and liver and renal disease.

Since the beginning of the fighting, the UAE has been committed to ensuring urgent, sustainable and unhindered supply of aid to Gaza. The Gulf state has also been frequently reiterating the need to facilitate an effective truce in the besieged Gaza Strip.