The head of the World Health Organization describes his ordeal during the Israeli raid on Yemen airport by Reuters

Written by Dave Graham

ZURICH (Reuters) – The director-general of the World Health Organization said on Friday he was not sure he would survive an air strike carried out by Israel on Yemen’s main airport the day before during a series of attacks on the Iran-aligned Houthi movement. .

Speaking after his ordeal at Sanaa International Airport on Thursday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the explosions that rocked the building were so deafening that his ears were still ringing more than a day later.

Tedros said it quickly became clear that the airport was under attack, describing people “running in chaos” through the site after about four explosions, one of which was “worryingly” close to where he was sitting near the departure lounge.

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

Tedros said he and his colleagues remained stuck at the airport for an hour or so, as what he thought were drones flew overhead, raising fears that gunfire could be fired again. He added that he and his colleagues saw fragments of a missile among the rubble.

“There was no shelter at all. Nothing. So you’re exposed, just waiting for something to happen,” he said.

The Israeli strikes on Yemen came after the Houthis repeatedly launched drones and missiles towards Israel in what they described as acts of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

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

The Houthi-controlled Saba news agency said three people were killed in the raids on the airport, three were killed in Hodeidah, and 40 others were wounded in the attacks.

Tedros said by phone from Jordan, where he traveled on Friday to help evacuate a seriously injured UN colleague at the airport to receive further medical treatment, that he had received no warning that Israel might be about to strike the airport.

He added that the injured man, who works for the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service, is now “fine” and in stable condition.

Tedros traveled to Yemen over Christmas to try to negotiate the release of UN staff and others detained there. He admitted that he and his colleagues knew that the trip was risky in light of the high tension between Israel and the Houthis.

Tedros, the former Ethiopian foreign minister, said this was such an opportunity to work for the release of UN staff that they thought they had to seize it.

He said that the talks with the Yemeni authorities went well and that he saw an opportunity to release the 16 United Nations employees in addition to employees of diplomatic missions and workers in non-governmental organizations detained there.

He declined to engage in recriminations over the attack, but said his itinerary had been made public, and expressed surprise that civilian infrastructure was targeted.

“So the civilian airport must be protected, whether you are there or not,” he said, before noting that “there is nothing special” about what he encountered in Yemen. “One of my colleagues said we narrowly escaped death. I am just one human being. So I feel for those who face the same thing every day. But at least it allowed me to feel what they feel.”

“I am concerned about our world and where it is going,” Tedros added, urging world leaders to work together to end global conflicts. “Never, as far as I can remember, have I seen the world in such a very serious state.”