The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) and other UN staff were present during an Israeli airstrike on Yemen’s international airport in Sana’a on Thursday.
In a social media post, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he and the crew were about to board the plane when the airport came under aerial bombardment.
“One crew member of our aircraft was injured,” he wrote, adding that two people at the airport were killed.
The attacks – which also hit power stations and ports – killed at least three people and wounded more than a dozen, according to Houthi-controlled media. The Iran-backed rebel group described the attacks as “barbaric” after Israel claimed responsibility for the attacks.
It is not clear whether the dead were civilians or Houthi rebels.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its warplanes carried out intelligence-based strikes on military targets belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime in the West Bank and interior of Yemen.
The IDF said it hit “military infrastructure” at Sana’a’s international airport, as well as the Hezias and Ras Qanatib power stations, and locations in the West Bank ports of Hodeidah, Salaf and Ras Qanatib.
In comments shortly after the attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would “continue to cut down the terrorist arm of the Iranian axis of evil until we get the job done”. [the Houthis]”
The head of the Houthis’ Supreme Revolutionary Committee, Mohammad Ali al-Houthi, described the attacks as “barbaric” and “aggressive”.
He said the “confrontation with American and Israeli arrogance” will continue until the Gaza conflict is stopped.
The runway was hit three times before the airport’s control tower was also hit, several people injured in the attacks on Sana’a airport told the Houthi-run al-Masira broadcaster.
A man, who identified himself as Dr Abbas Rajia, said the police hospital where he works was treating 10 patients after the attacks – one already dead, the other in critical condition. , and others had minor injuries or broken bones.
Iran described the attacks as a clear violation of international peace and security.
The Houthi rebels have been attacking Israel since the first months of the Gaza war, which began in October 2023.
Missile attack by Houthis More than a dozen people were injured Last week in Israel
Israel has carried out intermittent attacks against the Houthis in retaliation.
Earlier this week, Israel’s defense minister said the country was preparing to launch a “severe attack” on the Houthis, warning it would “behead” the group’s leadership.
The Houthis are an armed political and religious group supported by Iran. The group has ruled large parts of western Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, since ousting the internationally recognized government in 2015.