Antonio Guterres during the third session of the G20 leaders’ meeting in Rio de Janeiro, November 19, 2024.
AFP
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned on Thursday the “escalation” of tensions between the Houthi rebels in Yemen and Israel after “particularly alarming” Israeli strikes which notably targeted the Sanaa airport, according to a spokesperson.
“The Secretary General condemns the escalation […] “Israeli airstrikes today on Sanaa International Airport, Red Sea ports and power plants in Yemen are particularly alarming,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Israel confirmed that it had targeted sites controlled by the Houthis on Thursday, including the airport in the capital Sanaa, where six people were killed, according to the Telegram channel of these Yemeni rebels supported by Iran.
“A year of escalation by the Houthis in the Red Sea”
The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was at Sanaa airport at the time of the bombing and told X that he was “safe and sound”.
“A member of the crew of the United Nations humanitarian plane was also injured,” the UN confirmed in its statement.
“Today’s airstrikes follow a year of escalation by the Houthis in the Red Sea and the region, which threatens civilians, regional stability and freedom of maritime navigation,” the statement noted.
Houthi claim of ballistic missile launch
Since the start of the war triggered in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023 by an unprecedented attack by the Islamist movement Hamas on Israeli soil, the Houthis have launched numerous attacks against Israel, in “solidarity” with the Palestinians.
They also regularly attack ships linked according to them to Israel or its American and British allies, in the Red Sea and in the Gulf of Aden. In response, the US military is carrying out strikes in Yemen against these insurgents, sometimes with the help of British forces.
Thursday’s Israeli raids come a day after the Houthis claimed responsibility for firing a ballistic missile and two drones against Israel.
“Serious risks to humanitarian operations”
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had asked the army to “destroy the infrastructure” of the rebels. Two days earlier, a missile fired by the Houthis injured 16 people in Tel Aviv.
The Secretary General of the United Nations “reiterates his call to all parties concerned to cease all military actions,” according to the press release from his spokesperson Stéphanie Tremblay.
“It also warns that airstrikes against Red Sea ports and Sanaa airport pose serious risks to humanitarian operations at a time when millions of people need life-saving assistance,” it continued. The war in Yemen has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths since 2014 and caused one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
(afp)
