The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) explained this Saturday that narrowly escaped death during the Thursday’s Israeli bombings at the airport in Yemen’s capitalcontrolled by the Houthi rebels.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director of the WHO, told the BBC that he still felt ringing in his ears since the attack on Thursday, when he was preparing to board a plane in Sana’a. “The noise was deafening. I still have ringing in my ears. More than 24 hours have passed. I don’t know if it affected my hearing,” he commented.
“The departure lounge next to us was hit, then the control tower. If the missile had deviated even a little, it could have fallen on top of us.“he highlighted.
On Thursday, Israel announced that it attacked “military targets” of the Houthi rebels, including the Sana’a airport, and said it responded to the “repeated attacks” of these insurgents, who for months have launched attacks against Israel “in solidarity” with the Palestinians.
The Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, including the capital, are supported by Iran, Israel’s declared enemy.
The head of the WHO considered that the protection of civilian facilities, provided for by international law, must be respected. “It doesn’t matter if I was there or not. This is a civil facility, it must be protected, in accordance with international law“he insisted.
Tedros was visiting Yemen on behalf of UN Secretary-General António Guterres as part of a mission to obtain the release of detained UN staff and to assess the health and humanitarian situation in this war-devastated country.
