The head of the World Health Organization described the suffering caused by Israel’s attack on the Yemeni airport.

By Dave Graham

ZURICH (Reuters) – The head of the World Health Organization said on Friday that Yemen’s main airport was not guaranteed to survive an Israeli airstrike a day earlier in a series of attacks on the Iran-allied Houthi movement. .

After the ordeal, WHO Director-General Theodore Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at Sana’a International Airport on Thursday that they were so shocked by the explosion that shook the building that their ears were ringing for more than a day.

Tedros quickly became aware that the airport was under attack, after four explosions that people described as being in a “confused” area, one of which was “shockingly” located near the departure terminal.

“Of course I wasn’t sure if I could survive because it was so close, just a few meters away from where we were,” he told Reuters. “A slight deflection could have resulted in a direct hit.”

Tedros said he and his colleagues were stuck at the airport for the next hour as drones flew overhead, hoping they might open fire again. Among the debris, he and his colleagues saw fragments of a missile, he said.

“There was absolutely no shelter (there was) nothing. So you’re just exposed, just waiting for something to happen,” he said.

Israel’s attack on Yemen comes after the Houthis repeatedly fired drones and missiles at Israel, claiming it was an act of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said Israel was “just getting started” with the Houthis.

The Houthi-controlled Saba news agency reported that 3 people were killed in the attack on the airport, 3 people were killed in Hodeidah and 40 people were injured in the attacks.

Speaking by phone from Jordan, where he flew on Friday to help evacuate a UN staffer at the airport for further treatment, Theodore said he had received no warning that Israel might strike the airport.

The injured man, who worked for the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service, is now “safe” and doing well, he said.

Tedros went to Yemen over Christmas to try to negotiate the release of UN workers and other detainees. He admitted that he and his colleagues knew the trip was dangerous given the high tensions between Israel and the Houthis.

But they believed that this was the window of opportunity to work for the release of the UN staff, said former Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros.

He said that the talks with the Yemeni authorities had ended well, and that the 16 UN staff members, as well as diplomatic missions and non-governmental organization workers, could be released.

He denied any wrongdoing in the attack, but said he was surprised that their itinerary had been publicly shared and that civilian infrastructure had to be targeted.

“So whether I’m in it or not, a civilian airport has to be protected,” he said, before noting that there was “nothing different” about what happened in Yemen. “One of my colleagues said we narrowly escaped death. I’m a human being. So I feel for those who are going through the same thing every day. But at least it allowed me to feel what they were feeling.”

“I am concerned about where our world is heading,” Theodore added, urging world leaders to stop international conflicts together. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve never seen the world really be in a more dangerous situation.”