UAE continues Operation Gallant Knight 3 delivering crucial aid to Gaza

Dubai: The United Arab Emirates is continuing its extensive humanitarian efforts to alleviate the severe hunger and thirst faced by the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. For nearly a year and a half, the UAE has been delivering substantial food aid through land, air, and sea routes. These efforts are enhanced by sustainable initiatives such as automated bakeries, field kitchens, and vital projects to secure potable water for the local population.

These initiatives are crucial given the escalating food and water crisis in Gaza. Palestinian medical sources recently reported 147 deaths due to malnutrition, including 88 children. Data from the United Nations World Food Programme and UNICEF reveal that over one in three people (39%) go days without food, with more than 500,000 individuals nearly a quarter of Gaza’s population living in famine-like conditions. The remaining population faces emergency levels of hunger.

Despite the severity, the situation would have been far worse without continuous Emirati support since Operation Gallant Knight 3 began. UN reports confirm that the UAE's aid accounts for 44% of total international assistance delivered to Gaza to date.

The UAE has successfully delivered tens of thousands of tons of food to Gaza residents. This aid has arrived through convoys via land crossings, airdrops under the “Birds of Goodness” initiative, and by sea, including the Khalifa aid ship, which transported 7,166 tons of supplies, with 4,372 tons being food.

Addressing the acute bread shortage, the UAE dispatched automated bakeries to Gaza in February 2024. It also supplied flour and other essentials to operate over 21 field bakeries, producing fresh bread daily. Additionally, the UAE helped run several field kitchens and supported more than 50 charitable kitchens that provide daily hot meals to affected families.

During the past Ramadan, the Emirates Red Crescent organized large-scale iftar programs, distributing over 13 million meals and supporting 44 kitchens that served more than 2 million people. It also supplied 17 bakeries, benefiting 3.12 million individuals.

Simultaneously, the UAE acted swiftly to combat the water crisis affecting over two million people in Gaza, especially after severe damage to pumping stations and distribution networks. Within days of launching Operation Gallant Knight 3, the UAE established six desalination plants producing 2 million gallons of water daily, benefiting over 600,000 people.

On July 15, Operation Gallant Knight 3 announced a major humanitarian project: a new transmission line to pump desalinated water from Egypt into southern Gaza. This 315 mm-wide, 6.7 km-long water pipeline connects the UAE-built desalination plant on the Egyptian side to the displacement zone between Khan Younis and Rafah governorates.

This project aims to serve approximately 600,000 residents, providing 15 liters of drinking water per person per day, at a time when over 80% of Gaza’s water infrastructure has been destroyed.

Operation spokesperson Sharif Al-Nairab stated, "The new water pipeline is not just an emergency response to Gaza’s water crisis, it is part of a consistent Emirati approach to supporting the Palestinian people, especially amid the catastrophic conditions caused by the war." He added that the UAE has always been Gaza's foremost supporter across all sectors, from establishing desalination plants and providing water tankers to digging wells and maintaining networks, and now, executing this vital project to ensure access to clean drinking water for the most affected areas.

Furthermore, the UAE has launched various initiatives to drill and maintain potable water wells in Gaza and has undertaken several wastewater network repair projects in different areas, alongside sending dozens of fresh water tankers to support the region.