During the visit of the WHO chief, Israel launched airstrikes on Yemen, killing six people

Six persons are reported dead after Israeli airstrikes on Yemen’s Sanaa airport caught WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom and UN employees.

At least six people were killed by Israeli airstrikes that occurred Thursday at Yemen’s international airport in Sanaa while World Health Organization (WHO) chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and other UN staff were there.

They were getting ready to board a flight when the attacks started, according to Dr. Tedros. Three people were killed and thirty others were injured in the strikes at the airport, according to the Houthi-run Saba news agency. Ten more persons were reported injured and three more deceased in the western province of Hodeidah.

The Houthi rebels, who are backed by Iran, called the attacks “barbaric.” They also targeted ports and power plants. The attacks were referred to by the Israeli military as “intelligence-based strikes on military targets.” It is still unclear if the people who died were Houthi combatants or civilians.

Dr. Tedros said his goal in Yemen was to assess the humanitarian and health conditions there and secure the release of UN personnel who were held, according to a statement on X. Additional details regarding the detainees were not revealed by him.

Regarding the strikes at Sanaa’s airport, Dr. Tedros stated that the runway, the departure lounge, and the air traffic control tower—all of which were located just meters away—were damaged.

“Before we depart, we must wait for the airport’s damage to be fixed,” he continued.

Concerned, UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the airstrikes as “particularly alarming.” He expressed his worry about Yemen and Israel’s growing confrontation and cautioned about the possibility of more regional instability.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that their fighter jets carried out intelligence-driven attacks on Houthi-affiliated military locations on Yemen’s inland and western coast. It targeted military facilities at the Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power plants, the airport in Sanaa, and sites at the ports of Al-Hudaydah, Salif, and Ras Kanatib, according to the IDF.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, declared after the airstrikes that Israel is only starting its fight against the Houthis and promised to keep up the disruption of what he called the “Iranian axis of evil”.

The IDF said early Friday morning that it had intercepted a missile fired from Yemen before it could enter Israeli territory.

“Barbaric” and “aggressive,” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the leader of the Houthis’ supreme revolutionary committee, denounced the airstrikes. He said that until the war in Gaza is ended, clashes with “American and Israeli arrogance” would continue.

Threatening to “decapitate” the Houthis’ leadership, Israel’s defense minister earlier this week declared plans for a major offensive against the group. Since overthrowing the internationally recognized government in 2015, many parts of western Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, have been occupied by the Houthis, an armed political and religious group supported by Iran.