Yemeni rebels yesterday claimed new attacks against Israel, after Israeli airstrikes hit the rebel-held international airport in Sana’a and other targets in Yemen.
The Israeli strikes on Thursday landed as the head of the WHO said he and his team were preparing to fly out from Yemen’s Houthi rebel-held capital, injuring a UN crew member.
Hours later yesterday, the Iran-backed Houthis said they fired a missile at Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv and launched drones at the city, as well as a ship in the Arabian Sea.
Photo: Reuters
Israel’s military earlier yesterday had reported that a missile launched from Yemen had been intercepted “before crossing into Israeli territory.”
Sirens sounded because of possible falling debris after the interception, it said.
Yemen’s Houthis have stepped up their attacks against Israel since late last month when a ceasefire took effect between Israel and another Iran-backed group, Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Israeli “aggression will only increase the determination and resolve of the great Yemeni people to continue supporting the Palestinian people,” a Houthi statement said.
Despite the damage, flights from Sana’a airport resumed at 10am yesterday, Houthi Deputy Minister of Transport Faisal al-Sayani said.
“The airport tower has been directly hit, in addition to the departure lounge and airport navigation equipment. The attack resulted in four dead until now and around 20 wounded from staff, airport and passengers,” al-Sayani said.
Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it knew at the time that WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was at the airport.
The strikes left the top of the control tower a bombed-out shell, and large windows in the airport building were shattered, with glass littering the ground.
Israel’s attack came a day after the rebels claimed the firing of a missile and two drones at Israel.
The strikes against what Israel’s military called rebel “military targets” marked the second time since Thursday last week that Israel has hit targets in Yemen after rebel missile fire toward it.
In his latest warning to the Houthis, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would “continue until the job is done.”
“We are determined to cut this branch of terrorism from the Iranian axis of evil,” he said in a video statement.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denounced the escalation in hostilities and said bombing transportation infrastructure threatened humanitarian operations in Yemen, where 80 percent of the population is dependent on aid.
Tedros was in Yemen to seek the release of UN staff detained for months by the Houthis, and to assess the humanitarian situation.
He said that a member of the UN’s Humanitarian Air Service “who was injured yesterday [on Thursday] due to the bombardment underwent successful surgery and is now in stable condition.”
A witness said that Israel also targeted the adjacent al-Dailami air base. Strikes also targeted a power station in Hodeida, on the rebel-held coast, a witness and al-Masirah TV said.
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