WHO chief tells of saving lives in Israeli strike on Yemeni capital

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on December 28 that he and his colleagues miraculously escaped death the other day during an Israeli missile attack on an airport in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

"We were completely defenseless. It's a matter of luck, because if the missile had deviated even a little bit, it could have fallen on our heads. That's why my colleague said after all this that we miraculously escaped death," he told the BBC.

According to Ghebreyesus, the airport was in chaos at the time of the strike and people were running for shelter in confusion.

He also noted that the air harbor was a civilian facility and should not be attacked.

Engaged in attack: Houthis intensify strikes on Israel amid truce in Lebanon

And while the Yemeni movement fills the vacuum, there has been diplomatic activity on the Gaza ceasefire

Earlier on Dec. 26, the Israeli Air Force launched a massive series of strikes in Yemen, including on the airport in Sanaa, where Gebreyesus was stationed. Three dead and 11 wounded were reported. Among the casualties was the assistant captain of a UN plane.

On the same day, the Houthis threatened a swift response to Israel's bombing and then launched a rocket attack on Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Dec. 27. On December 28, they claimed a strike on Israel's Nevatim airbase in the Negev Desert.

The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian radical movement Hamas subjected Israeli territory to a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. On the same day, Israel began retaliatory strikes.