The Washington Post Israel strikes Yemen airport as WHO chief prepares to board plane Updated December 26, 2024 at 1:57 p.m. EST5 min ag

 The Washington Post 

Israel strikes Yemen airport as WHO chief prepares to board plane

Updated

December 26, 2024 at 1:57 p.m. EST5 min ago

Smoke rises from Sanaa International Airport in Yemen following Israeli airstrikes Thursday. (Yahya Arhab/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

3 min

Israeli warplanes struck multiple targets across Yemen on Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces said, including ports, power stations and the international airport serving the capital, Sanaa, as the head of the World Health Organization was about to board a flight.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO, said the airport was bombarded as he was set to board. A member of his plane’s crew was injured in the strike, he said in a post on X. He said he and his United Nations colleagues were safe but that “the air traffic control tower, the departure lounge — just a few meters from where we were — and the runway were damaged.”

Tedros, who was in Yemen to negotiate the release of U.N. staff held there and assess the humanitarian situation, said he and his team would be stranded until the airport could be repaired.

The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether it knew Tedros was at the airport when it launched the strike.

The IDF said it targeted military infrastructure used by the Houthi militant group at Sanaa International Airport, the Hezyaz power station south of the capital and the Ras Kanatib power station on Yemen’s west coast. It also struck two ports on the coast it alleged were used by the Houthis to smuggle in weapons and officials from Iran, which backs the movement.

The Houthis control large parts of Yemen and have staged frequent attacks on Israel, as well as Western shipping and naval vessels in the Red Sea, since the start of the war in Gaza. The group says its attacks are in solidarity with the Palestinian people and will cease when Israel halts its war in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli air defense systems have intercepted most of the missiles and drones launched by the Houthis. But in the past week, two missiles struck Israel, causing injuries and damage.

Israel informed the United States of Thursday’s attacks in Yemen before they were carried out, said an Israeli individual familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. The U.S. military did not actively participate in the strikes, a U.S. military official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an operational matter. The official confirmed that the United States was notified of the strikes before they were launched.

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