SAF medical team arrives in Egypt to treat casualties from Gaza
Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen earlier said the Singapore Armed Forces has accepted an invite from the French Armed Forces to provide two medical personnel to serve on the French helicopter carrier FS Dixmude.
Lieutenant Colonel Nazirul Hannan Abdul Aziz (first from left) and Military Expert 3 Jimmy Woo Ying Ming (second from right) with the French Armed Forces medical team on board the FS Dixmude. (Photo: Singapore Embassy in Cairo)
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SINGAPORE: A medical team from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) arrived in Egypt to support Singapore's humanitarian aid contribution to Gaza, the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) announced on Friday (Jan 19).
The two-person medical team, which arrived on Thursday, will treat patients on board the French helicopter carrier FS Dixmude, a reconfigured hospital ship. The ship is currently docked at Egypt's El-Arish Port and has been treating casualties from Gaza.
During a parliament session on Jan 9, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said SAF has accepted an invite from the French Armed Forces to provide two medical personnel to serve on FS Dixmude.
The SAF has been supporting humanitarian contributions to Gaza. One such effort was on Nov 30 when a Republic of Singapore Air Force aircraft arrived in Egypt with life-saving supplies for civilians in Gaza.
The team currently on FS Dixmude comprises Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) (Dr) Nazirul Hannan Abdul Aziz and Military Expert 3 (ME3) Jimmy Woo Ying Ming.
LTC Nazirul is a doctor who is a qualified specialist in Emergency Medicine, while ME3 Woo is a military medical expert who specialised as an operating theatre scrub nurse and in perioperative nursing, said MINDEF.
Both of them will work with the French Armed Forces medical team on board the FS Dixmude to provide medical care for casualties from Gaza.
The death toll of the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas has risen to 24,620, said Gaza health authorities on Thursday. Many more were feared buried under the rubble.
Over 170 were killed in the past 24 hours. Israel claims it has killed 9,000 Hamas fighters.
On Thursday, Israeli forces advanced into Khan Younis in southern Gaza, pounding areas near the enclave's biggest functioning hospital.
The heaviest battle of the year was underway in Khan Younis, sheltering hundreds of thousands of people who fled the north earlier in the war, now in its fourth month.
