Sultan Mubarak, a member of a small team of technical specialists at Zaied's Supreme Organization for People with Disabilities in Abu Dhabi, personally manufactures prosthetic limbs for Palestinian amputees as part of the 'Noble Knight 3' operation.
In the workshop, Mubarak and a team of six or seven Emirati technicians are daily engaged in molding sockets, taking limb measurements, and operating the ovens and drills necessary for the manual creation of each prosthetic part.
Mubarak, who previously studied mechanics, is himself a person with a disability. Fifteen years ago, he was involved in an accident that resulted in head trauma and permanent complications in his left leg. He shared that after a recovery period, he was able to return to work.
He noted that this personal experience gives him a deep understanding of the importance of the prosthetics his team creates for future recipients.
The workshop is part of a broader UAE program called 'Step of Hope,' launched under the 'Noble Knight 3' operation in collaboration with an International Non-Governmental Organization. This program focuses on manufacturing and fitting upper and lower prosthetics for Palestinians who lost limbs during the crisis in Gaza, thereby restoring their mobility, aiding recovery, and helping them build lives with new hope.
Zaied's Supreme Organization separately produces prosthetics and assistive devices for Palestinian patients transported to the UAE for treatment, including dozens of limbs and wheelchairs delivered to residents of the Emirates Humanitarian City.
For Mubarak, the motivation is simple: he heard about the scale of poverty and suffering in Gaza and considered his contribution to this effort his duty. He stated that people need 'plastic parts to complete their limbs,' especially families whose homes were damaged by rockets.
The prosthetic workshop is only one part of the much larger humanitarian efforts of the UAE in Gaza. Since the launch of the 'Noble Knight 3' operation in November 2023, the initiative has aimed at rehabilitating war veterans in Gaza through the production and fitting of prosthetics, as well as providing physiotherapy and medical rehabilitation services.
Just last week, the UAE Floating Hospital in El Arish, Egypt, reported that it had fitted prosthetics for 51 Palestinian amputees since the start of the 'Step of Hope' program.