The war-weary world, especially the Arabian Peninsula, can heave a sigh of relief that Israel and Gaza-based militant group Hamas have reached a six-day truce for the exchange of detainees as well as delivery of relief aid and humanitarian assistance for Gazans, who have borne the brunt of an Israeli onslaught since the October 7 Hamas attack that reportedly killed 1200 Israelis and abducted another 240.
The directives of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, UAE President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, to airlift 1,000 injured Gazan children and 1,000 cancer patients and treat them prior to their safe return home has offered a reprieve for Palestinians caught in the quagmire that is the Israel- Hamas conflict.
Ever since Israel began its military retaliation on Hamas in Gaza, the UAE has been vocal about the rights of civilians in the war zone. Apart from persistent pleas to stop the bombardment, the UAE, which established full diplomatic relations with the Jewish nation in September 2020 through the Abraham Accords, made an entreaty in the UN Security Council through its ambassador Lana Nousseibeh. “Access to fuel, food, water, medical aid, and other basic necessities must be fully restored. We must create a framework for rapid, unimpeded, and safe humanitarian access for the brave workers who are risking their lives today on the ground.” She expressed her nation’s disappointment at the vetoing of draft resolutions seeking a respite for Gaza, which has seen the death of over 14,000 Palestinian civilians in Israeli air and ground raids.
The UAE, like other Arab nations in the region, does not intent to upset the applecart that is regional peace and stability, and propel West Asia into a full-fledged war. It has instead opened humanitarian corridors, sending flights of aid through the Egyptian city of Arish and pledging funds to the tune of US$ 20 million. According to Dr Maha Barakat, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Health, the UAE has dispatched 51 planes carrying 1,400 tonne of food, medical, and relief supplies in coordination with international organisations such as the UN World Food Programme.
Individual brands and companies in the country chipped in with their profits and earnings not to mention young school children, who contributed their savings or cancelled Deepawali celebrations in solidarity with the suffering millions in the Palestinian enclave.
The Tarahum for Gaza (Compassion for Gaza) campaigns in late October saw residents and citizens turn up in large numbers in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah to pack relief material as well as make donations in cash and kind for the war victims.
For Indian expatriates Owais Asgar Bade and Ashwin Mathew, university students who took part in the Sharjah drive on October 22, volunteering for the cause was the least they could do for the people of Gaza. “I was driven by a desire to make a tangible impact and support those in need, and it turned out to be a profound experience. It showcased the power of collective efforts in providing essential aid to those going through challenging circumstances,” said Mr. Bade. “In fact, the campaign brought to the venue such large numbers of people that the packing was over much earlier than anticipated,” noted Mr. Mathew who had helped pack groceries.
From despair to hope
On November 18, the first plane carrying 15 Palestinians including children and their guardians – most often one parent, with the other staying behind to tend to their remaining children – and medical volunteers landed at Abu Dhabi International Airport from Al Arish airport in Egypt. Pregnant women as well as children in need of urgent medical assistance, such as those suffering from severe injuries, burns and cancer, had reached Arish through the Rafah crossing in an operation that takes 15 hours. The second and thirds flights landed on November 21 and 28 respectively, and more such missions are on the anvil.
The UAE President also ordered the establishment of an integrated field hospital and three desalination plants in Gaza as part of the “Gallant Knight 3” operation. The 150-bed hospital, to be built in stages, will include the departments of general surgery, orthopaedics, paediatrics, dentistry, psychiatry and gynaecology, in addition to anaesthesia and intensive care units for both children and adults. Moreover, 31 premature babies shifted from Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza are being cared at the UAE-run Al Helal Emirati Maternity Hospital in Rafah.
Truce and two-state solution
Since the war began, Abu Dhabi saw visits from the King of Jordan and the Emir of Qatar for a collaborative action, which reached fruition with the Qatar-brokered truce on November 24. The UAE, which condemned the Hamas attack as “a grave and serious escalation”, was also critical of Israel’s ground operations in Gaza that compounded the humanitarian tragedy. At the Cairo Peace Summit on October 21 attended by the UAE and 30 other regional and international players, the UAE President appealed to the international community to “work together to avert further violence and wider instability”.
At a November 21 virtual summit of BRICS countries addressing the situation in West Asia, Sheikh Mohammed reiterated that the only way to address the crisis is to revive the peace process and resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Soon after the escalation of war in October, UAE carriers had cancelled flights to Tel Aviv due to safety concerns. However, according to media reports, UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani al Zeyoudi stated that trade with Israel will remain unaffected as “we don’t mix the economy and trade with politics”. Since 2022, the Arab nation has a free trade pact with Israel that removed or reduced tariffs on 96% of goods traded between the two nations, and this has seen a boom in bilateral trade to the tune of US$ 2.56 billion in 2022 and $3 billion by the end of 2023. Visa-free entry for citizens of both countries had ensured a surge in tourist arrivals, with 1,50,000 Israelis having visited the UAE in 2022.
(Roshin Mary George is an independent journalist based in the UAE.
