UAE aid to Gaza reaches $3.12b under Operation Chivalrous Knight 3

Since the launch of Operation Chivalrous Knight 3 on 5 November 2023, under the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates has set a global benchmark for rapid humanitarian response and sustained support for the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Through a comprehensive relief framework encompassing humanitarian, medical, food and shelter assistance, the UAE has delivered aid by land, sea and air, reaching communities across the Strip despite the challenging conditions on the ground.

By the end of the first half of 2026, the total value of UAE assistance provided to the Gaza Strip had reached approximately US$3.12 billion, representing nearly 46% of the total international aid delivered to Gaza over the past two and a half years. This has positioned the UAE as the world’s largest single donor of humanitarian assistance to the Strip during this period.

The humanitarian operation has encompassed dozens of flagship initiatives, most notably the establishment of the UAE Field Hospital inside the Gaza Strip and the launch of the UAE Floating Hospital in the Egyptian city of Al Arish. It has also included a large-scale programme to evacuate wounded patients, those requiring specialised medical treatment, and their companions to hospitals across the UAE. In addition, the operation has supported the operation of field bakeries, community kitchens and water desalination plants, implemented projects to provide safe drinking water, and distributed food parcels, tents, relief supplies and other essential necessities to affected families.

Operation Chivalrous Knight 3 has relied on an integrated logistics network to ensure the uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid. This has included an air bridge comprising dozens of relief flights, a maritime bridge transporting thousands of tonnes of humanitarian supplies, and overland aid convoys. The operation has also carried out humanitarian airdrops in cooperation with international partners to reach areas that remained inaccessible by conventional means.

The significance of Operation Chivalrous Knight 3 extends beyond the scale of its financial commitment. Its impact is reflected in the breadth of its humanitarian interventions, combining emergency relief, healthcare, food security, and support for critical infrastructure and essential services. The operation underscores the UAE’s enduring humanitarian approach, founded on rapid response, sustained assistance, and a steadfast commitment to alleviating civilian suffering during times of crisis, further reinforcing the country’s standing as one of the world’s leading humanitarian donors.

Operation Chivalrous Knight 3 has announced that the total value of UAE humanitarian assistance provided to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip has reached $3.12 billion, accounting for approximately 46% of all international aid delivered to Gaza over the past two and a half years.

The operation noted that what began with the participation of just three institutions has expanded into a nationwide humanitarian effort involving more than 200 charitable organizations across the UAE, working in partnership with international organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

The operation also revealed that total humanitarian aid delivered to Gaza has reached 126,300 tonnes of various relief supplies. It has successfully facilitated the entry of more than 13,000 aid trucks into the Gaza Strip, in addition to operating over 785 relief flights and dispatching 25 aid ships. Of these, 13 vessels departed from the UAE, three from Egypt’s Al Arish, and nine from Cyprus, forming a continuous humanitarian bridge to support the Palestinian population.

Meanwhile, Dar Al Ber Society announced its contribution to the “Step of Hope” programme, implemented in cooperation with Operation Chivalrous Knight 3, as part of the UAE’s ongoing humanitarian efforts, under the directives of its leadership, to support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The initiative forms part of the Step of Hope programme, which aims to rehabilitate war amputees in Gaza by manufacturing and fitting prosthetic limbs, while also providing physiotherapy and medical rehabilitation services. The programme is designed to help beneficiaries regain mobility, restore independence, and reintegrate into daily life and society.

 The programme is being implemented through the UAE Floating Hospital in Egypt’s Al Arish, where it offers a comprehensive rehabilitation system that includes medical assessment, prosthetic limb fabrication and fitting, physiotherapy, and continuous medical follow-up. Efforts are also underway to expand the number of beneficiaries in coordination with relevant authorities to ensure these services reach as many injured individuals as possible.

Mohammed Al Sharif, the official spokesperson for Operation Chivalrous Knight 3, affirmed that the operation has maintained uninterrupted humanitarian support for Palestinians in Gaza since its launch through an integrated framework of relief, healthcare, and development initiatives implemented by the UAE in cooperation with government entities, private-sector organizations, charitable institutions, and international partners.

Reviewing the operation’s achievements, Al Sharif explained that the initiative began with the establishment of the Operation Chivalrous Knight 3 Coordination Centre in Abu Dhabi to coordinate humanitarian efforts among government and non-government entities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and all relevant authorities involved in facilitating aid delivery and alleviating the suffering of civilians in Gaza.

He added that Egypt’s Al Arish hosts a fully integrated logistics hub equipped with humanitarian warehouses and storage facilities, alongside a field hospital that began operations with a capacity of 100 beds and has so far provided medical treatment and care to more than 31,000 patients.

 Al Sharif further noted that the UAE established the UAE Water Pipeline Project, which includes desalination plants with a production capacity exceeding two million gallons of water per day, in addition to constructing a 7.5-kilometre water pipeline extending from the Egyptian side to Khan Younis, providing safe drinking water within the Gaza Strip.

As part of efforts to strengthen healthcare services inside Gaza, he said the operation also established a 200-bed field hospital, which has treated more than 114,000 patients since opening. He stressed that the UAE’s initiatives extend beyond emergency medical assistance to encompass broader humanitarian and social support.

He highlighted that UAE assistance to Gaza’s healthcare sector has included the deployment of 33 ambulances, support for 33 hospitals across the Strip, the provision of more than 291 dialysis sessions, and contributions to the polio vaccination campaign, which benefited approximately 640,000 children.

In the education sector, UAE initiatives have included the distribution of school bags and educational supplies, as well as scholarship programmes. Meanwhile, total medical aid delivered has exceeded 16,000 tonnes of medicines, medical supplies, and healthcare equipment.