Israel bombs Yemeni airport where World Health Organization chief was boarding flight
Sanaa, Yemen - Israeli air strikes hit rebel-held Sanaa's international airport and other targets in Yemen on Thursday as the head of the UN's World Health Organization said he and his team prepared to fly out.
Yemen's civil aviation authority said the airport planned to reopen on Friday after the strikes that it said occurred while the UN aircraft "was getting ready for its scheduled flight."
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether they knew at the time that WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was there. Israel's attack came a day after the Houthis claimed the firing of a missile and two drones at Israel.
Attacks against Israel have stepped up since late November, when a ceasefire took effect between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah.
Al-Masirah TV said the Israeli strikes killed six people, after earlier Houthi statements said two people died at the rebel-held capital's airport, and another at Ras Issa port.
The strikes targeting the airport, military facilities, and power stations in rebel areas marked the second time since December 19 that Israel has hit targets in Yemen after rebel missile fire towards Israel.
In his latest warning to the rebels, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would "continue until the job is done."
Israel's "alarming" attacks on critical infrastructure in Yemen
UN Secretary-General António Guterres denounced the "escalation" in hostilities between Israel and the Houthis and called the Sanaa airport strikes "especially alarming."
He said bombing transportation infrastructure posed a threat to humanitarian operations in Yemen, where 80% of the population is dependent on aid.
Tedros was in Yemen to seek the release of UN staff detained for months by the Houthis, and to assess the humanitarian situation.
He said he and other UN staff were about to board their flight when "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," Tedros said on X, adding that he and UN staff were safe.
A witness told AFP that "more than six" attacks struck the rebel-held capital's airport, with raids also targeting the adjacent Al-Dailami air base.
A series of strikes also targeted a power station in Hodeida, on the rebel-held coast, a witness and Al-Masirah TV said.
Israeli strikes had already twice this year hit Hodeida, a major entry point for humanitarian aid to impoverished Yemen, which has been ravaged for years by its own civil war.
The Houthis have repeatedly fired missiles and drones at Israel in solidarity with Palestinians being killed en masse in Gaza. They have similarly attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Scores of drone and missile attacks on cargo ships have prompted reprisal strikes by the US and UK, which are both backing Israel's genocidal onslaught in Gaza.
Cover photo: Collage: REUTERS