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Health Ministry on Saturday opened a field hospital that the funded to treat the coronavirus patients amid the lack of medical supplies and equipment in the besieged enclave.

Dubbed 'Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan', the field hospital was builtÌýonÌýeight dunumsÌý(0.8 hectares) at the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. It includedÌý216 beds, 56 of which were for intensive care patients.

"It is very important to have a specialised field hospital to treat the patients amid obstacles facedÌýby the health ministry to confront the Omicron variant due to the Israeli blockade imposing on the Strip since 2007, which has deteriorated the health sector in the are,"ÌýJawad al-Tibi, a former Palestinian health minister,Ìýtold °®Âþµº.

During the opening ceremony, al-Tibi, said that the hospital came "as a result of extended efforts and continuous support from the UAE",Ìýadding that Abu DhabiÌýhad previously donated an oxygen, ambulances, vaccines and medicines to the Strip, which is experiencing the peak of the fourth wave of the coronavirus.

The official explained that the field hospital "is a qualitative leap that will help the medical staff in their work to confront the new virus",Ìýpointing out that the Israeli authorities have prevented the entry of crucial medical equipment for the work of government hospitals in the Strip for nearly a year.

Ashraf al-Qedra, a spokesman of the ministry in Gaza, said that the UE-funded field hospital came "to help the health sector in Gaza in its missions to fight the new virus".

Meanwhile, the health ministry recorded on Sunday 1,305 new cases infected with the new virus, raising the total number of infections to 233,470.

In addition, 11 fatalities from the new virus were reported in the coastal enclave, bringing the total number of deaths to 1,829.