Operation Gallant Knight 2: 100 days of assistance to Syrian earthquake victims

LATAKIA / WAM

Operation Gallant Knight 2, launched by the Joint Operations Command of the Ministry of Defence, has completed 100 days of continuous support and assistance to Syria following the earthquake on February 06. During this period, 181 aircraft carrying 5,727 tonnes of essential food supplies, medicines and  medical equipment and three ships carrying 5,429 tonnes were dispatched, totalling 11,156 tonnes of aid.
In response to the earthquake on February 6, UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan directed the Joint Operations Command to initiate Operation Gallant Knight 2 to support the Syrian people by providing relief assistance to affected individuals. The operation exemplifies the UAE’s prominent humanitarian approach and the directives of its leadership to support the people of Syria and Turkiye. The UAE sent a search and rescue team to rescue survivors under the rubble of collapsed buildings. The team spent nearly 240 hours working in rescue operations involving some 42 people. The UAE also donated search and rescue equipment to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and trained civil defence staff in Latakia.
Under the leadership of the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC), more than 16 Emirati donors joined the “Bridges of Giving” campaign. The ERC has played a significant role in delivering food parcels, necessities, drugs and medical supplies to earthquake victims and established a temporary shelter with 50 tents for those affected.
The medical delegation accompanying the ERC team donated medical supplies and drugs to the Syrian Ministry of Health to support the country’s medical sector. The UAE also provided Syria with ten ambulances equipped with the latest technologies to offer services to victims. The ERC team brought medical supplies and drugs from the UAE to support Syria’s medical sector. As Syria declared the gradual reopening of schools on March 5, and despite many of them being used as shelters, the ERC began distributing more than 10,000 school bags and supplies across various Syrian governorates as part of the UAE’s humanitarian and relief efforts to support  victims.
Under the guidance of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler’s Representative in Al Dhafra Region and Chairman of the ERC, AED20 million was allocated to support Ramadan programmes in Syria during the Holy Month.
The ERC implemented Ramadan initiatives that benefitted nearly 160,000 families who suffered from the earthquake. During the Holy Month of Ramadan, the initiative provided 2,700 daily meals in Latakia, Aleppo, Hama and Homs governorates in Syria, as well as 19,371 Ramadan Ration parcels in Latakia benefitting 96,855 people, along with 4,000 Ramadan parcels daily, reaching 500,000 people.
During Eid, the initiative donated clothes to 4,290 families in four governorates, helping 17,160 Syrians. Additionally, it distributed 20,000 bags of rice and flour in four governorates. The ERC launched a project to shelter families affected by the earthquake in Syria, providing them with 1,000 pre-fabricated housing units for AED65 million.
The operation also launched the initiative titled “Your Doctor in Your House,” which comprises a medical team with four specialists that serve more than 800 elderly people, women and children in Latakia. The number of families who benefitted from this initiative reached 1,100, totalling 6,000 individuals.
Operation Gallant Knight 2 brings together the UAE Armed Forces, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, the The Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation, and the ERC to support brothers and sisters in Syria and Turkiye.