Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), said on Saturday that he narrowly escaped death during Israeli strikes on Thursday on the airport of Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, held by the Houthi rebels.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the BBC that his ears were still ringing since the attack on Thursday, as he prepared to board a plane. “The noise was so loud… so deafening, in fact. I still have ringing in my ears. It’s already been over 24 hours. I don’t know if it affected my ear.”he commented.
“The departure lounge next to us was hit, then the control tower”added Mr. Ghebreyesus. “If the missile had deviated just a little bit, it could have fallen on our heads”.
On Thursday, Israel announced that it had struck “military targets” Houthi rebels, including Sanaa airport, with the army claiming to have responded to “repeated attacks” of these insurgents who have been launching numerous attacks against Israel for months, “in solidarity” with the Palestinians.
The WHO chief said the protection of civilian installations provided for by international law must be respected. “It doesn’t matter if I was there or not… This is a civilian installation, it must be protected, in accordance with international law”he insisted.
Tedros was visiting Yemen on behalf of UN chief Antonio Guterres as part of a mission to secure the release of detained UN staff and assess the health and humanitarian situation there. ravaged by war.
