DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates is to set up a field hospital in the Gaza Strip, official media said after the death toll from the war between Israel and Hamas passed 10,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Five aircraft flew out of Abu Dhabi for Arish in northern Egypt carrying equipment and supplies for the 150-bed facility, WAM news agency said late Monday.
An official contacted by AFP said there was no immediate information on how the equipment will be transferred to Gaza, where there is only one operational border point, the Rafah crossing near Arish.
The hospital's facilities will include anaesthetics and surgery, gynaecology and intensive care units "catering to both children and adults", WAM said.
Some 4,000 children are among the 10,000 who have died so far, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said on Monday.
Health facilities in Gaza are overwhelmed, and medical stocks are in short supply as hospitals and health care are increasingly targeted by attacks, according to a report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Since the start of hostilities, 14 out of 35 hospitals with inpatient capacities have stopped functioning and 71 per cent of all primary care facilities across Gaza have shut down due to damage or lack of fuel, OCHA says.
The ongoing war erupted when Hamas militants crossed from Gaza into southern Israel on October 7 and launched their attack that has killed some 1,400 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.
In retaliation, Israel has unleashed relentless strikes and sent in ground troops to crush the militants in the Gaza Strip.
The United Arab Emirates, a wealthy Gulf monarchy, broke with Arab tradition to establish ties with Israel in the 2020 Abraham Accords agreements.
It has previously announced plans to bring about 1,000 Palestinian children and their families from the Gaza Strip for treatment at UAE hospitals.
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