WHO chief unharmed during Israel strikes on Yemen airport

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), who was at the Sanaa airport in Yemen amid an Israeli bombardment on Thursday, said there was damage to infrastructure but he remained safe.

“One of our plane’s crew members was injured. At least two people were reported killed at the airport,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on X.

Other United Nations (UN) staff were also safe but their departure was delayed until repairs could be made, he added.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether they were aware of his presence at the time.

Tedros was in Yemen as part of a mission to seek the release of detained UN staff and assess the health and humanitarian situations in the war-torn country.

He said the mission “concluded today,” and “we continue to call for the detainees’ immediate release.”

While about to board their flight, he said “the airport came under aerial bombardment.”

“The air traffic control tower, the departure lounge — just a few meters from where we were — and the runway were damaged.”

“We will need to wait for the damage to the airport to be repaired before we can leave,” he added.

Hours later on Friday, the Houthis said they fired a missile at Ben Gurion airport and launched drones at Tel Aviv as well as a ship in the Arabian Sea.

The Israeli air strikes came a day after the latest attacks on Israel by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The rebel-held capital’s airport was struck by “more than six” attacks with raids also targeting the adjacent Al-Dailami air base, a witness told Agence France-Presse.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel’s strikes would “continue until the job is done.”

“We are determined to cut this branch of terrorism from the Iranian axis of evil,” he said in a video statement.

A series of strikes were also fired at a power station in Hodeida, a witness and the Iran-backed Houthis’ official Al-Masirah TV station said.