The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) said he and his colleagues were "nearly destroyed" by an Israeli airstrike on an airport in Yemen.Tedros told BBC Radio 4's "Today" programme that he felt "utterly devastated" after at least six people were killed in the attack.
He and other UN officials left Sanaa in western Yemen on Thursday as they prepared to release UN prisoners and assess the humanitarian situation in the country when the airport was hit.The Israeli army said it had carried out an "intelligence offensive" against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.Dr. Tedros said Saturday: "It's a very chaotic situation, you know, people are in chaos, running around."
"There was no shelter, so we were completely exposed. We were lucky, otherwise the bomb would have hit us in the head if it had gone off a little bit," he added.
"My colleagues said we were safe from death after we got through this," he said.The WHO director-general has led the organization since 2017 and has made regular public appearances during the coronavirus pandemic. But he added: "It doesn't matter whether I'm there or not. A citizen's life is a life; my life is no better than anyone else's."Dr Tedros said the airport was a public place and therefore should not have been hit by Israel.The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) welcomed the "senior Iranian leader", saying that the Houthi rebels were using the airport to "smuggle Iranian weapons into the region" and attack Israel.
"This is another example of the Houthis using civilian infrastructure for military purposes," the statement said.The Houthi-controlled Saba media reported that three people were killed and 30 injured at the airport.Three people were killed and 10 injured in other attacks on power plants and ports in the region.It is not yet known whether the dead were civilians or Houthi rebels. Pro-Iran groups called the attack "barbaric" and "aggressive" and vowed to continue attacks on Israel until the conflict in Gaza ends.The Houthi rebels have been fighting Israel since the outbreak of hostilities in October 2023, when Palestinian rebels attacked Israel, killing around 1,200 people.
Israel retaliated to the Houthi attack with an unprecedented offensive.On Saturday, the Houthis said they had attacked the Nevatim air base in central Israel. The Israel Defense Forces said the missile, which came from Yemen, was intercepted by air before it could enter Israeli airspace.The Houthis are a political and religious organization backed by Iran. The group has controlled much of western Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, since overthrowing the internationally See More
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