On Thursday, Israeli airstrikes hit Sana’a international airport and other targets in Yemen, with Houthi media reporting six deaths.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media that he was at the airport during the strike, adding that “a crew member on our plane was injured.”
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment asking whether they were aware of his presence at the time.
The attacks on airports, military installations and power stations in rebel areas followed an escalation in hostilities between Israel and the Houthis.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israeli attacks would “continue until the job is completed.”
“We are determined to remove this branch of terrorism from Iran’s axis of evil,” he said in a statement on the film.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday condemned an “escalation” in hostilities between Israel and the Houthis, calling the attack at Sana’a airport “particularly shocking.”
Tedros traveled to Yemen to seek the release of detained U.N. staff and assess the humanitarian situation in war-torn Yemen.
He said air traffic control towers, terminals and runways were damaged in the strike.
“We need to wait until the damage to the airport is repaired before we can leave,” he added.
A witness told AFP that the rebel-controlled airport in the capital was hit “more than six times”, as was the nearby Darami air base.
Yemen’s Civil Aviation Authority said the UN aircraft was “preparing for a scheduled flight” at the time of the attack, adding that the airport planned to reopen on Friday.
Witnesses and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels’ official Al-Masirah television said a power station in Hodeidah was also hit by a series of attacks.
The television station said six people were killed in the attack. Earlier, a Houthi movement statement said two people died at the airport in the rebel-controlled capital and one person was killed at the port of Ras Issa.
Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam called the attack a day after the Houthis fired a missile and two drones at Israel “a crime committed by Zionism against all Yemeni people.” .
The Israeli military said its “fighters conducted intelligence-based strikes against military targets belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime”.
– Tel Aviv attack –
An Israeli statement said the targets included “military infrastructure” at Sana’a and Hodeidah airports and power stations, as well as other facilities at the ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Al-Kanatib.
“The Houthi terrorist regime uses these military targets to smuggle Iranian weapons into the region and provide access to senior Iranian officials,” the statement read.
“The Houthi terrorist regime is a core part of Iran’s axis of terror,” the statement added.
Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the attack as a “violation” of peace and security.
“These acts of aggression are a clear violation of international peace and security and an undeniable crime against the heroes and noble people of Yemen,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmael Baqaei said in a statement.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group fighting Israel in Gaza, condemned the attack as an “aggression” against its “Yemeni brothers”.
On Saturday, 16 people were wounded in a Houthi attack in Tel Aviv days before Wednesday’s missile and drone attacks on Israel.
The incident prompted warnings from Netanyahu, who said he ordered the destruction of the rebel group’s infrastructure.
Since the Gaza war broke out in October last year, the Houthis have launched a series of missiles and drones at Israel, claiming to express solidarity with the Palestinians.
The rebels, part of Iran’s “axis of resistance” targeting Israel and the United States, have also launched a months-long campaign against shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Dozens of drone and missile attacks on cargo ships have triggered a series of retaliatory attacks by U.S. and sometimes British forces.
-“Pay a heavy price”-
Israel has also previously carried out strikes against the Houthis in Yemen after the rebels attacked their territory, including targeting ports and energy facilities.
In July, a Houthi armed drone attack killed an Israeli civilian in Tel Aviv, triggering a retaliatory attack in Hodeidah.
Last week, before the latest round of attacks, Netanyahu said the Houthis would “pay a very heavy price” for their attacks on Israel.
His Defense Minister, Israel Katz, said on Thursday that Israel would “pursue all Houthi leaders… No one will escape our pursuit”.
In September 2014, the Houthis seized control of the capital and overthrew the internationally recognized government, taking control of much of Yemen.
In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition launched a military operation to dislodge them, triggering a war and one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
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