World Health Organization Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said he is safe after an Israeli strike targeted Sanaa airport in Yemen while he was about to board a flight.
He said that the strikes caused damage to a departure lounge at the airport which was "just a few meters from where we were".
"As we were about to board our flight from Sana'a, about two hours ago, the airport came under aerial bombardment," Dr Tedros said.
He added that one of his plane's crew members was injured in the attack while at least two people were reportedly killed at the airport.
"The air traffic control tower, the departure lounge - just a few meters 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.
"Our heartfelt condolences to the families whose loved ones lost their lives in the attack," Mr Tedros said in a statement on social media
Dr Tedros was in Yemen with a WHO delegation as part of a mission to negotiate the release of UN staff detained in Yemen as well as to assess the health and humanitarian situation in the country.
Our mission to negotiate the release of @UN staff detainees and to assess the health and humanitarian situation in #Yemen concluded today. We continue to call for the detainees' immediate release.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) December 26, 2024
As we were about to board our flight from Sana'a, about two hours ago, the airport… pic.twitter.com/riZayWHkvf
It comes as Israel struck multiple targets linked to the Houthi movement in Yemen, including Sanaa International Airport, while Houthi media said at least six people were killed.
The Houthi-controlled Saba news agency said that three people were killed in the strikes on the airport and three were killed in Hodeidah, while 40 others were wounded in the attacks.
Israel's military earlier said it struck multiple targets linked to the Houthi movement in Yemen, including the airport and three ports.
Attacks hit Yemen's Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations as well as military infrastructure in the ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Kanatib, Israel's military added.
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Sanaa airport and the adjacent Al-Dailami base were targeted along with a power station in Hodeida, in attacks that the Houthis' Al-Masirah TV channel called "Israeli aggression".
More than a year of Houthi attacks have disrupted international shipping routes, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys that have in turn stoked fears over global inflation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with Channel 14 that Israel was only at the beginning of its campaign against the Houthis. "We are just getting started with them," he said.
The prime minister has been strengthened at home by the Israeli military's campaign against Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon and by its destruction of most of the Syrian army's strategic weapons.
Israel has instructed its diplomatic missions in Europe to try to get the Houthis designated as a terrorist organisation.
The UN Security Council is due to meet on Monday over Houthi attacks against Israel, Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon said yesterday.
The Israeli military said it had struck Houthi "military targets" in Yemen and accused the rebels of being at the heart of the "Iranian axis of terror".
Israeli air force "jets conducted intelligence-based strikes on military targets belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime on the western coast and inland Yemen", the military said in a statement, adding that it was in response to Houthi attacks against Israel.
The spokesperson of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned escalations between Israel and Yemen, saying Israel's airstrikes on Yemen's Sanaa International Airport, the Red Sea ports and power stations were alarming.
Israel said it struck multiple targets linked to the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen on Thursday, including Sanaa International Airport, and Houthi media said at least six people were killed.
"Israeli airstrikes today on Sanaa International Airport, the Red Sea ports and power stations in Yemen are especially alarming," the U.N. chief's spokesperson said in a press briefing while expressing concerns about the risk of further regional escalation.
On Saturday, a Houthi missile attack left 16 people wounded in Tel Aviv.
Saturday's incident had prompted a warning from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said he had ordered the destruction of Huthi infrastructure.
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"I have instructed our forces to destroy the infrastructure of Houthis because anyone who tries to harm us will be struck with full force," Mr Netanyahu said in parliament.
"We will continue to crush the forces of evil with strength and ingenuity, even if it takes time," he said.
The Houthis have fired a series of missiles and drones at Israel since the eruption of war in Gaza in October last year, claiming solidarity with the Palestinians.
