The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has begun construction on a major pipeline to carry desalinated water from Egypt to southern Gaza, AFP reports.

Technical teams sent by the UAE have started transporting equipment needed for the project, the Emirati state news agency WAM reported.

The nearly seven-kilometre pipeline aims to help alleviate what WAM described as a “water crisis” in the Gaza Strip.

WAM said the UAE had launched “several initiatives to drill and rehabilitate potable water wells”.

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