More than 34,500 Palestinians have died in Israel's onslaught on Gaza since October. But there's another grim figure that tells the story of the Gaza conflict: 77,000.

That's the number of people who have suffered horrific burns, blast injuries, lacerations and crushed bones. A small number have managed to leave the besieged enclave for medical treatment.

The UAE is one of a small number of countries taking patients in and treating them at its hospitals free of charge. To date, it has operated 16 flights on commercial planes refitted with hospital beds and medical equipment. About 1,000 injured Gazans, plus another 1,000 cancer patients, have been flown to the UAE capital.

This week on Beyond the Headlines, Nada AlTaher, who was on board a recent medical flight, speaks to the people behind this extraordinary humanitarian effort – and hears from the Gazan patients who want to return home to the war-torn strip, despite the dangers.