WHO chief's close call in Yemen air strike

Source: UN Photo/Elma Okic. WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Tedros was about to board a plane when the strikes hit Sanaa, sites in the Al-Hudaydah, both the Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations, as well as two west coast ports on Thursday, 26 December 2024.

Tedros was at the tail-end of a visit to the country "to negotiate the release of UN staff detainees and to assess the health and humanitarian situation".

Tedros explained that the airport's air-traffic control tower and the departure lounge, which were metres from where they were located, were damaged, as was the runway.

Sources say the runway was the first to be struck three times before the airport's control tower was hit.

More attacks planned

The second in Yemen in less than a week, the latest air strike comes on the back of a warning by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that this won't be his last attempt at destroying the infrastructure of Houthi-controlled sites.

The Houthis comprise an Iran-backed armed group that controls large parts of western Yemen, including the capital Sanaa. They ousted the country's internationally recognised government in 2015.

"I have instructed our forces to destroy the infrastructure of Houthis because anyone who tries to harm us will be struck with full force," Netanyahu said.

"We will continue to crush the forces of evil with strength and ingenuity, even if it takes time."

The Houthis have been launching attacks in Gaza in support of the Palestinians since the war started in October 2023.

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The death toll from the most recent air strike on Yemen stands at six, with two people killed at the airport, and one of Tedros' plane’s crew members injured. Forty people in total have been injured.

In the meantime, Tedros noted in a media statement that he is safe, but is unable to leave Yemen until such time as the damage to Sanaa's airport runway has been repaired.

"Our heartfelt condolences to the families whose loved ones lost their lives in the attack," Tedros said on the social-media platform, X.

He did not reveal the identities of the UN detainees in question, nor the details of his negotiations for their release, which concluded in Yemen on Thursday, 26 December 2024.

"We continue to call for the detainees' immediate release," he said.