The Israeli military said airstrikes in Yemen on Thursday had been carried out Hussite rebel— the capital of Sana'a and the port city of Hodeida. The director-general of the World Health Organization said the bombing occurred as he was about to board a flight to Sana'a, injuring a crew member. The Israeli army later told The Associated Press that it did not know the WHO chief was there.
“The control tower, the departure lounge – just a few meters from where we were – and the runway were damaged,” WHO Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Xadding that he and his colleagues were safe. “We will have to wait for the damage to the airport to be repaired before we can take off.” He did not name the source of the shelling.
Tedros said that at least two people were killed in the attack at the airport. According to BBC Newsvideo from the airport shows people running out of the terminal in panic.
Khaled Abdullah / REUTERS
The latest strikes came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “the Houthis will also learn what Hamas, Hezbollah, the Assad regime and others have learned.” Netanyahu was monitoring the new strikes with the military leadership, his government said.
The Israel Defense Forces said the targets included “military infrastructure used by the terrorist Houthi regime for its military activities at both Sana'a International Airport and the Heziaz and Ras Qanatib power plants,” as well as other military infrastructure at several ports.
Iranian-backed Houthi media confirmed the strikes in a Telegram message but did not provide immediate details. Houthi media reported that three people were killed and 14 wounded as a result of the strikes.
In recent days, the US military has also struck the Houthis in Yemen.
The United Nations has noted that ports are important entry points for humanitarian aid. According to BBC News, Tedros was in Yemen to negotiate the release of detained UN staff and assess the humanitarian situation.
Last weekend, 16 people were injured when a Houthi rocket hit a playground in Tel Aviv. Last week, Israeli jets struck Sana'a and Hodeidah, killing nine people, in what it said was a response to previous Houthi attacks. The Houthis have also targeted shipping in the Red Sea corridor, calling it solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
Israeli strike at a hospital in Gaza
Meanwhile, as a result of an Israeli strike overnight, five Palestinians were killed outside a hospital in the Gaza Strip, the Ministry of Health of the territory reported. Gaza officials said they were journalists working for a local news agency. The Israeli military said they were militants posing as reporters.
The strike hit a car outside the Al-Awda hospital in the newly constructed Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. The Palestinian Journalists Union said the victims worked for the local news outlet Al-Quds Today, a television channel linked to Islamic Jihad militants. This is reported by Reuters.
Ramadan Abed / REUTERS
Islamic Jihad is a smaller and more extreme ally of Hamas and was involved in the October 7, 2023 attack. in the south of Israel, which ignited the war. The Israeli military identified four of them as militant propagandists and said intelligence, including a list of Islamic Jihad operatives found by soldiers in Gaza, confirmed that all five were linked to the group.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian militant groups operate political, media and charity operations in addition to their armed wings.
Associated Press footage shows the van's body burned and press signs visible on the back door. Weeping young people attended the funeral outside the hospital. The bodies were wrapped in shrouds, and blue press vests were draped over them.
The Committee to Protect Journalists says more than 130 Palestinian reporters have been killed since the war began. Israel does not allow foreign reporters to enter Gaza unless they are on military bases.
Israel has banned the pan-Arab network Al Jazeera and accused six of its reporters in the Gaza Strip of being militants. The Qatar-based broadcaster denies the allegations and accuses Israel of trying to silence its war coverage, which focuses heavily on civilian casualties from Israeli military operations.
Separately, the Israeli military said a 35-year-old reservist was killed during fighting in central Gaza early Thursday. A total of 389 soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the ground operation began more than a year ago.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border and attacked nearby military bases, farming communities and a music festival. They killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250. About 100 hostages are still in Gaza, with at least one-third believed to be dead.
According to the Israeli Ministry of Health, more than 45,000 Palestinians died as a result of Israel's air and ground offensive in Gaza. The offensive caused widespread destruction and drove about 90% of the 2.3 million population from their homes. Hundreds of thousands gathered in meager tent camps along the coast, p little protection from the cold, damp winter.
Also on Thursday, people mourned eight Palestinians killed by Israeli military operations in and around the town of Tulkarem in the occupied territory West Bank of the Jordan River on Tuesday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The Israeli military said troops opened fire after the militants attacked the soldiers and said they were aware of uninvolved civilians who were injured in the raid.