Israeli air strikes hit Yemen’s main airport as a civilian Airbus 320 with hundreds of passengers was landing and a United Nations delegation was waiting to leave, the UN’s top humanitarian official in Yemen has said.
Julien Harneis told reporters the most frightening thing about the two air strikes on Thursday was not their effect on him and about 15 others in the VIP lounge at the international airport in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, including the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
He said it was the destruction of the airport control tower as a Yemenia Airways plane was taxiing in after touching down.
“Fortunately, that plane was able to land safely and the passengers were able to disembark, but it could have been far, far worse,” said Mr Harneis, who was with WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in the lounge.
He said one air strike landed about 300 metres south of the VIP lounge and another about 300 metres to the north at around 4.45pm, while five members of the UN team were outside the building.
“Not only obviously did we have zero indication of any potential air strikes, but we cannot remember the last time there were air strikes in Sanaa during daylight hours,” Mr Harneis said in a video news conference from the city on Friday.
The UN said at least three people were killed and dozens injured in the strike. Among the injured was a crew member from the UN Humanitarian Air Service, about to fly the delegation out of Sanaa.
He suffered a serious leg injury from shrapnel and lost a lot of blood, Mr Harneis said.
He said UN security officials moved the delegation out of the VIP building and into five armoured cars where they waited for about 40 minutes to ascertain what happened and help the injured crew member.
He was taken to a hospital in Sanaa and underwent four hours of surgery while the rest of the delegation spent the night in a UN compound, Mr Harneis said.
The UN plane carrying the delegation, including the injured crew member, was able to depart for Jordan on Friday afternoon – without an operating control tower.
The UN said the injured crew member was taken to a hospital in Jordan.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who control Sanaa and much of the country’s north, have gone after Israel since it started attacking Gaza following the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas militants on southern Israel.
The Houthis have attacked ships in the Red Sea, disrupting one of the world’s main maritime routes, and recently stepped up missile and drone attacks on Israel.
Early on Saturday, the Israeli Air Force reported intercepting another missile from Yemen, as sirens woke Israelis around Jerusalem and the Dead Sea.
The Israeli army said it was not aware the WHO chief or UN delegation were at the Sanaa airport on Thursday. Israel said it bombed the airport because it is used by the Houthis and Iran.
Mr Harneis said the airport is civilian, not military, and is used for transporting UN and other humanitarian workers, as well as one civilian flight – Yemenia to and from Amman, Jordan, which operates as a result of an international agreement. Thousands of Yemenis have used the flight to get advanced medical treatment abroad, he said.
