Gaza war: UAE dispatches 12 trucks with urgent relief for 30,000 Palestinians

Twelve aid trucks have successfully entered the Gaza Strip, bringing tonnes of urgent relief for thousands of Palestinians caught in the middle of an ongoing war, the UAE announced on Friday.

The new shipment — one of the first to enter the Gaza Strip since October — contains 150 tonnes of humanitarian aid that can help meet the needs of 30,000 people, the government said.

The trucks entered through the Erez Crossing (northern Gaza) and Karam Abu Salem crossing (southern Gaza) in an initiative carried out in cooperation with the American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera).

The UAE has been implementing a wide range of projects to address the "disastrous and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza".

So far, the country has provided more than 40,000 tonnes of urgent aid and it will continue its work to ensure the "immediate, safe, unhindered, and sustainable delivery of aid on a wide scale, through all possible means", said Sultan Mohammed Al Shamsi, assistant minister of foreign affairs for fevelopment affairs and international organisations.

"The UAE is committed to extending a helping hand to the Palestinians and implementing humanitarian relief initiatives whether via land, sea, or air routes,"  Al Shamsi said.