Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Wednesday doubled the amount of aid money being delivered to Yemen to $540 million, reports AFP.
"We announce that we are setting aside one billion riyals ($266 million) for aid and humanitarian operations... in addition to more than one billion riyals ($274 million) we had already pledged," the official Saudi Press Agency quoted the king as saying.
Previously, Saudi Arabia had committed $274 million to the United Nations, who said it would use the money to "meet the life-saving and protection needs of 7.5 million people affected" by a deepening humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
The announcement comes on the first day of Yemen's five-day ceasefire, which will allow humanitarian assistance to reach those caught in the crossfire.
On Tuesday in the hours leading up to the ceasefire, upwards of 90 civilians were reportedly killed in Saudi airstrikes in Sanaa.
Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies began their air campaign against Yemen's Houthi rebels on March 25th of this year, in order to restore power to Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.
