Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, ordered adding a Boeing 747 aircraft to the operations of Dubai International Humanitarian to transport aid via the Gaza Air Bridge.

The aircraft will transport aid to Gaza until next Sunday, as part of the Gaza Air Bridge set up by orders of Shaikh Mohammad to transport aid to the Palestinian people who are facing a rising death toll due to the brutal Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.

So far, more than 700 people have been killed and around 140,000 were forced to abandon their homes. Shaikh Mohammad also ordered the use of Antonov jets to support the Gaza Air Bridge in transporting food and relief aid to Gaza. Daily aid is estimated to weigh 150 tonnes, which will be transported to Amman and then to Gaza by land.

Pierre Krahenbuhl, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), expressed his heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Shaikh Mohammad for his personal support and keenness to provide all forms of aid to alleviate the suffering of tens of thousands of Gaza residents.

The total value of aid that has been transported so far is Dh5.1 million.