Israeli airstrikes on Thursday hit Yemen's largest airport as a civilian Airbus 320 with hundreds of passengers on board was landing there, and a UN delegation was waiting to depart, the head of the UN's humanitarian work in Yemen said, quoted by the Associated Press and BTA.
Julian Harnis told reporters that he witnessed the control tower at the international airport in the Yemeni capital Sanaa being destroyed, while at the same time a Yemenia Airways plane taxied on the runway after it had just landed.
"Fortunately, the plane was able to land safely and the passengers were able to disembark, but it could have been much worse," said Harnis, who was in the airport's VIP lounge at the time along with about fifteen other people, including the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) at the UN, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
According to Harnis, one of the strikes occurred approximately 300 meters south of the airport's VIP area, and the other approximately 300 meters north at around 4:45 p.m., while five UN staff members were in front of the building at the time.
"Not only did we not expect any strikes at all and there was no indication that there would be any, but we simply could not remember the last time Sanaa was "There were bombings in broad daylight," he said by videoconference from Sanaa.
The UN said at least three people were killed and dozens wounded in the strike. Among the wounded was a crew member of the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service plane that was preparing to take off from Sanaa with the 20-member UN delegation.
He was seriously wounded in the leg by shrapnel and lost a lot of blood, Harnis said.
Immediately after the strikes, the delegation's security personnel escorted the members of the delegation out of the VIP lounge and into five armored vehicles, where they waited for about 40 minutes while they investigated what had happened and provided assistance to the crew member.
He was taken to a hospital in Sanaa and underwent a four-hour operation, while the rest of the delegation spent the night at a UN compound, Harnis said. The UN plane carrying Tedros and the UN team was able to take off for Jordan yesterday afternoon - without a working control tower.
The UN said the injured pilot was taken to a hospital in Jordan and Tedros had flown back to Geneva, where the WHO is headquartered.
The Iranian-backed Yemeni Houthis, who control Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, have been waging war against Israel since the start of Israel's offensive in Gaza, sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. The Houthis have attacked ships in the Red Sea, disrupting shipping in one of the world's most important shipping lanes, and have recently stepped up missile and drone attacks on Israel; In the early hours of today, Israeli air defenses intercepted another missile fired from Yemen, as air raid sirens woke Israelis in the Jerusalem and Dead Sea areas.
Israel escalated its response.
The Israeli military said it was unaware that the WHO chief and a UN delegation were at Sanaa airport on Thursday. Israel said it bombed it because it was used by the Houthis and Iran.
Harnis responded to the statement by stressing that the airport is civilian, not military, and is used to transport UN and other aid workers and to handle a single civilian flight, to Amman, Jordan. The flights on this route are operated under an international agreement, and thousands of Yemenis have used the airline to access advanced medical treatment abroad, he added.
Yemen is the poorest Arab country and has been engulfed in a decade-long civil war between the Houthi rebels, who control Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, and the internationally recognized government in southern Yemen.
Tedros was in Yemen to discuss the deepening humanitarian crisis and to demand the release of about 50 people from the United Nations, international NGOs and civil society who have been detained by the Houthis since June.
According to Harnis, 18 million Yemenis - or about half the population - have needed humanitarian assistance this year, and next year that number is expected to rise to 19 million.
In addition to the airport in Sanaa, Israel also attacked the largest port of Hodeidah in western Yemen, through which almost all food and medical aid to Yemen.
As for the detainees, Harnis said he and the WHO chief had met with the Houthi prime minister, foreign minister and a member of the group's Supreme Political Council. He said they had received a commitment to their eventual release and the path by which this could happen, as well as the conditions in which they were being held.