El-Arish, a small town in northern Sinai about 30 miles from Gaza, has become a little slice of Abu Dhabi. Once rarely visited by foreigners, this coastal town is now teeming with Emirati volunteers dressed in cargo pants and beige vests emblazoned with the UAE flag.
Author of the article:
Published on August 4, 2024 • 5 minutes reading time
Article content
(Bloomberg) — A little slice of Abu Dhabi has appeared in El-Arish, a small town in northern Sinai about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Gaza. Once rarely visited by foreigners, the coastal town is now bustling with Emirati volunteers wearing cargo pants and beige vests emblazoned with the United Arab Emirates flag.
They joined UAE government officials, Red Crescent workers and hospital staff in the Egyptian area just outside the Gaza Strip, as part of a humanitarian effort to help more than two million people whose lives have been devastated by the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
Advertisement 2
Article content
Since the conflict began nearly a decade ago, the UAE’s aid efforts in El-Arish and the Palestinian territory have cost the energy-rich country about $700 million, Sultan Mohammed Al Shamsi, assistant foreign minister for development affairs and international organizations, told Bloomberg during a government-organized trip in early July.
This includes setting up a field hospital in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, which has treated nearly 50,000 people, according to its staff, and a second makeshift medical facility on a ship anchored nearby in the Mediterranean Sea.
The UAE’s effort reflects the growing regional influence of the Gulf nation, which has forged ties with Israel and strengthened its ties with Egypt in recent years — including through a $35 billion investment to help unlock an International Monetary Fund bailout.
Israel is using these relationships – and its billions of petrodollars – to play a leading role in diplomatic and aid efforts in the conflict, and has signaled its willingness to help prepare for a post-war scenario – including sending security forces to Gaza. That said, its influence only goes so far – the war shows no signs of ending, and Israeli leaders have paid little attention to international calls for a ceasefire.
Best stories
Article content
Announcement 3
Article content
Read: Understanding the Roots of the Israel-Hamas War: QuickTake
The UAE could « consider taking part in a temporary stabilisation mission following a formal invitation from a reformed Palestinian Authority, » said Reem Al Hashimy, minister of state for international cooperation, referring to the administration that ruled parts of the West Bank and controlled Gaza before Hamas seized power in 2007.
According to Steffen Hertog, associate professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, the UAE may want to “become an important diplomatic broker that can deal with Israel and Egypt in a way that few other countries can.” “The UAE is also under some pressure to have a positive impact on Palestine, given the criticism it faces in the Arab public sphere” for establishing ties with Israel, he added.
The move follows other international interventions by the UAE, including brokering a prisoner exchange deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Desalination plants
The UAE operates half a dozen water desalination plants in El-Arish, which produce more than a million gallons a day for the population of Gaza, while several warehouses containing food, medicine and clothing have been built on the Egyptian side of the border. Funds have been made available for airdrops costing up to hundreds of thousands of dollars per ton, according to Al Shamsi.
Announcement 4
Article content
Despite efforts by the UAE and other countries, the humanitarian situation in Gaza is worsening, he added. Without land access, including through the Rafah border crossing into Sinai (closed since Israel took control in May), aid agencies have been forced to rely primarily on airdrops, which require approval from the Israeli government.
“By sea, by land and by 300 flights, we have delivered nearly 40,000 tons of humanitarian aid to meet the urgent needs of the Palestinians,” Al Hashimy told Bloomberg.
Some Emirati military planes stationed at El-Arish airport can carry tons of packages containing food and medical supplies. They recently transported aid to northern Gaza, the area most affected by Israel’s air and ground campaign, Al-Shamsi said.
“The nature of food insecurity throughout the Gaza Strip is unprecedented this century,” the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a study published in April. According to the United Nations, about 90 percent of residents in the densely populated strip have fled their homes and lack access to adequate shelter, food, medical services and clean water.
Advertisement 5
Article content
For Duaa’, a mother of five from Gaza, arriving at the makeshift hospital in the United Arab Emirates about three months ago with her children was a chance to find shelter after months of constant bombardment. She has been waiting for some time to be transferred to the Gulf country to get a prosthesis after her right leg was amputated.
“I haven’t seen my husband in months. He’s in an Egyptian hospital, but his condition is too critical to be transferred here,” she told Bloomberg. “This situation is more difficult than anyone can imagine.”
The representative of the United Arab Emirates, Ms. Al Hashimy, said a ceasefire and the release of all hostages and detainees were urgently needed to end the escalation in the region, which she said had led to “an unprecedented state of instability.”
Ceasefire talks
Ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt, have been inconclusive for months – and appear more difficult to resolve than ever after a suspected Israeli attack killed Hamas’s political leader in Tehran last week.
Israel has vowed to kill all Hamas leaders since the war began in October, when the group, designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, swept into the south of the country, killing about 1,200 people. More than 39,000 Palestinians have died in the ensuing Israeli military campaign, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
Announcement 6
Article content
The United Arab Emirates established diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020 as part of the Abraham Accords, a series of agreements brokered by the administration of former US President Donald Trump that established relations between the Jewish state and some Arab nations including Bahrain.
The aim of the agreement was to promote economic cooperation between the two sides and reduce regional and security tensions, but with mixed results. The UAE maintained dialogue with Israel throughout the war against Hamas, while being unable to significantly curb the country’s military aggression.
At the same time, the country is under pressure from other Arab countries to maintain its ties as bombings against Palestinians continue.
Abu Dhabi’s position on normalizing relations with Israel has not changed, according to a source close to the government, who was not authorized to speak publicly. The UAE believes that having diplomatic relations has allowed the country to deliver aid to Gaza and hold talks with the government, the source said.
The UAE’s investment in Egypt, which helped avert an economic crisis, was seen by many as a signal that Abu Dhabi is serious about playing its role as an influencer with rival Gulf powers, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar. And its particular focus on humanitarian efforts in Gaza is likely putting the UAE in the US’s good graces, LSE’s Hertog said.
—With assistance from Thomas Hall.
Article content
