The gleaming Etihad Boeing 777 they stepped into could not have made for a more stark contrast from the apocalyptic scene they’ve left behind in Gaza.

And they emerged into the cabin lights looking mostly dazed. One elderly woman hugged the first female cabin crew member she saw.

She had plenty of reason to be both grateful and immensely relieved.

She – like the nearly 200 people slowly boarding with her – was on one of the few flights out of the hell that is Gaza right now – and they had just got a ticket offering their first real chance of survival.

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The Sky News team joined them on the flight: one of the first mercy missions organised by the United Arab Emirates to airlift wounded, sick or vulnerable children and families out of the war zone.

They were taking advantage of the humanitarian pause in the bombing to try to evacuate as many sick, ill and wounded as possible.

Some of the elderly and sick were pushed in wheelchairs to the foot of the plane and then half carried, half helped up the steps.

Others cradled their babies or held their toddlers close.

One young girl, aged about 11, was tightly strapped to a stretcher and taken into the body of the aircraft via a hydraulic lift.

She was accompanied by her 16-year-old sister.

“She’s very ill,” one of the medics told us, “she was severely dehydrated. We struggled to get a drip inside her and she’s got multiple trauma injuries.”

Many of the passengers are cancer patients who’d been forced to leave the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital – the only cancer treatment hospital in the Gaza Strip – after it was bombed.

One orthopaedic surgeon, who herself is suffering from lung cancer, described the humanitarian situation inside Gaza as “catastrophic”.

“There are about 7,000-9,000 badly injured or sick people who urgently need to be taken out of Gaza for medical treatment,” Dr Hanan Azghbi estimated.

She said her own hospital – the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital was overwhelmed with patients lying on floors and filled with people who’d sought refuge there.

It is now one of more than 20 hospitals completely out of action leaving only a fraction still functioning.

“I saw babies with double amputations,” she told us, “There are many, many people who’ve lost limbs. It is a catastrophe,” she repeated.

The medical team of 29 doctors, paramedics and emergency workers had flown into the Egypt-Gaza border unsure of who they were picking up, what the injuries or illnesses were and the extent of them.

So, they filled the plane with a range of medical equipment and medicines designed to help them cope with most eventualities.

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They set up a mini-ICU towards the rear of the plane and erected at least 10 stretchers positioned over rows of folded aeroplane seats, with resuscitation equipment and drips at the ready. In the event they needed to use only one.

Most of the passengers were able to be helped into their seats with a number receiving the first painkillers they’ve had access to in days or weeks.

Over the next week or so, the UAE will build a field hospital in Gaza with 150 beds. Compared to the huge numbers needing help right now, it is likely to be extremely busy.

The patients are being flown to Abu Dhabi where they’ll be placed in a number of hospitals able to respond to their medical needs.

Most have come with at least one family member accompanying them and these relatives will be accommodated nearby.

It was noticeable what few possessions the passengers arrived with.

Many came away from Gaza carrying just small plastic bags. That is all they’ve been left with.

Many have seen relatives killed and lost their homes, their jobs, their future. They leave Gaza not knowing if they’ll ever be back – and if they do return, just what exactly they’ll return to.

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