WHO chief and UN team caught up in Israeli strikes that killed six in Yemen

Israeli forces unleashed a series of strikes on the Yemeni capital Sanaa and the western city of Hodeidah on Thursday, killing at least six people and injuring dozens more, the Houthi militant group said in a statement.

An assault on the capital’s airport hit as a “high-level UN delegation,” led by World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was due to fly out of it, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement.

“The Secretary-General is gravely concerned about intensified escalation in Yemen and Israel,” the statement added. The Yemen-based, Iran-backed Houthis vowed to retaliate, and a few hours later Israel’s military said a missile launched from Yemen was “intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory.” No injuries were reported, Israel’s emergency service said. The Houthis are yet to comment on the intercepted missile.

The strike on Sanaa International Airport killed at least three people and injured 30 others, the Houthi-run al-Masirah television reported. WHO chief Tedros said he and a UN team were about to get on a plane when the airport came under bombardment.

“As we were about to board our flight from Sanaa… the airport came under aerial bombardment. One of our plane’s crew members was injured,” Tedros said in a statement, adding that he and his team are safe.

“The air traffic control tower, the departure lounge, — just a few metres from where we were — and the runway were damaged. We will need to wait for the damage to the airport to be repaired before we can leave.”

CNN

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