|
Listen to article
|
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) disclosed a close brush with death, recounting how he and his colleagues were caught in the crossfire of an Israeli air strike at a Yemeni airport, a stark reminder of the dangerous environments in which global health efforts often unfold.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reflected on the harrowing attack, describing a profound sense of being “completely exposed” as the event unfolded, leaving at least six people dead.
On Thursday, he and fellow UN staff were departing Sanaa, located in western Yemen, after concluding a mission to negotiate the release of UN detainees and evaluate the nation’s dire humanitarian conditions. Their departure was interrupted when the airport came under attack.
The Israeli military announced that it had conducted intelligence-driven strikes targeting military assets associated with the Iran-supported Houthi rebels, emphasizing the precision of its operations.
“It was very chaotic, you know, people were in disarray and running everywhere,” Dr Tedros said on Saturday.
He described the moment vividly, saying, “We had no shelter and were entirely exposed. Survival came down to sheer luck—if the missile had shifted its course just a little, it could have struck us directly.”
“So my colleague actually said, after all that, we escaped death narrowly,” he said.
Read also: Nigeria Contributes 46% To Global Malaria Deaths – WHO
The WHO chief – who has led the organisation since 2017 and made regular public appearances during the Covid pandemic – said his presence at the airport was public knowledge prior to the strike.
But he added: “It doesn’t matter whether I’m there or not. Any civilian life is life – my life is not better than another human being.”
Dr Tedros said the airport is a civilian facility and therefore should not have been attacked by Israel. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the airport had been used by Houthi rebels “to smuggle Iranian weapons into the region” which it used to attack Israel, as well as to welcome “senior Iranian officials”.
“This is a further example of the Houthis’ exploitation of civilian infrastructure for military purposes,” it added. The Houthi-run Saba news agency said three people were killed at the airport and a further 30 injured.
Reports confirmed that three additional individuals lost their lives, while 10 others sustained injuries in separate airstrikes that struck power stations and a port within the region. Authorities have yet to determine whether the deceased were civilians or members of the Houthi rebel faction.
The Iran-aligned group condemned the assaults, labeling them as “barbaric” and “aggressive” acts of provocation. In retaliation, the group pledged to persist in targeting Israel with strikes until hostilities in the Gaza Strip came to a definitive halt.
Since the initial months of the war, which broke out in October 2023, Houthi rebels have carried out repeated strikes against Israel. The war was triggered by a sudden and devastating attack from Palestinian militants, resulting in the deaths of nearly 1,200 individuals and sparking widespread violence in the region.
