UAE pledges $41 million aid for Gaza reconstruction

22 July 2014

Of that figure, 150 million dirhams ($40 million) was part of an agreement between Abu Dhabi and the Emirati Red Crescent and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

The UAE said on Monday it will offer nearly $41 million in aid for the reconstruction of Gaza homes hit by Israel’s military offensive against rocket-firing militants.

Of that figure, 150 million dirhams ($40 million) was part of an agreement between Abu Dhabi and the Emirati Red Crescent and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, according to the Red Crescent.

The initiative was aimed at reconstructing “damaged homes and rehabilitating hospitals, education and services” hit by Israeli military strikes in the Gaza Strip, the organisation’s president, Shaikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, was quoted as saying in a statement.

The UAE government already pledged $52 million in humanitarian aid for Palestinians in the coastal enclave in the early stages of the Israeli military offensive.

Hundreds of residential buildings have been damaged since July 8, when Israel launched the assault that has now killed 572 Palestinians and 27 Israelis, including 25 soldiers.

Mohammed orders air bridge to Gaza, sending 114 metric tonnes of aid

22 July 2014

The gesture is in solidarity with the people of Gaza who live in dire humanitarian conditions amid aggressions of the Israeli forces.

Upon the directives of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the cargo plane, Boeing 747, which was dispatched to Gaza carrying 114 metric tonnes of aid, landed at Marka International Airport in Amman early on Monday.

The gesture is in solidarity with the people of Gaza who live in dire humanitarian conditions amid aggressions of the Israeli forces.

Following the directives of Shaikh Mohammed, the aid agencies have mobilised relief supplies from the International Humanitarian City (IHC) in Dubai to send them to thousands of displaced families in Gaza. The relief supplies have been put under the directive of the United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to distribute them to thousands of the displaced families in Gaza.

The organisations at the IHC have coordinated with Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation (JHCO) to get the relief supplies across to over 100,000 displaced people there. The JHCO has been playing greater role in getting the relief supplies to Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the air bridge will continue to get sufficient relief supplies to Gaza, where they will be distributed to beneficiaries there by UNRWA.

UNRWA Commissioner-General, Pierre Krahenbuhl, praised Shaikh Mohammed for support found by the UNRWA in Dubai and the UAE in general, especially during this critical time. “We are pleased with this immediate response from Dubai and IHC employees. The Dubai airlift demonstrates effectiveness of a concerted humanitarian work.”

The IHC in record 24 hours has coordinated participation of the organisations, including The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN World Food Programme (WFP)/UN Humanitarian Response Depot), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the Emirates Red Crescent in this humanitarian work.