Israel hits airport with WHO leader inside

At least two people died, while Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and his colleagues, who were in Yemen to negotiate the release of UN officials, were “safe”.

Israel’s bombing of targets in Yemen hit Sanaa airport, the country’s capital, this Thursday. Among the passengers at the terminal were the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesusand other members of the agency.

“As we were about to board our flight from Sanaa, about two hours ago, the airport came under aerial bombardment,” Tedros reported shortly after the attack.

“One of the crew members of our plane was injured. At least two people were reported dead at the airport. The air traffic control tower, the boarding area — just a few meters from where we were — and the take-off runway were damaged,” added the WHO director.

“My UN and WHO colleagues and I we are safe“, he added.

Our mission to negotiate the release of staff detainees and to assess the health and humanitarian situation in concluded today. We continue to call for the detainees’ immediate release.

As we were about to board our flight from Sana’a, about two hours ago, the airport…

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros)

The head of the WHO stated that he was in Yemen to negotiate the release of detained UN (United Nations) employees and to assess the humanitarian situation in the country. In June, the UN confirmed that 13 members of its team were detained by the Houthi rebels, who control much of Yemen.

The employees were captured in various parts of the country in an apparent coordinated operation. The arrests came at a time when the Houthis faced increasing economic hardship and airstrikes led by a US-led coalition.

The Houthis have targeted commercial vessels in the Red Sea, triggering retaliatory airstrikes by the US and its allies.

The Israeli attack

The Israeli government claimed to have hit, in addition to the airport, energy plants and “military infrastructure” in Yemen this Thursday.

The Israeli army said it struck “military targets” belonging to the Houthis because the rebel group “repeatedly attacked” Israel.

The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) added that the military targets were used by the Houthis to “smuggling Iranian weapons” to the region and allow the entry of Iranian officials.

The Houthis are a “central part of the Iranian terrorist axis, and their attacks on international vessels and shipping lanes continue to destabilize the region and the world at large,” the statement said.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam described Thursday’s attacks as “a Zionist crime against the entire Yemeni people“, according to AFP.

The Israeli strikes followed several attacks by the Houthis, including one in Tel Aviv on Saturday.