In an interview with the BBC, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the WHO, said he came close to death after Israeli strikes hit the airport of the Yemeni capital, held by the Houthi rebels.
“The noise was so loud… so deafening, in fact. I still have ringing in my ears. It’s already been more than 24 hours,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization (WHO), told the BBC this Saturday.
In an interview, the latter confided that he narrowly escaped death during Israeli strikes Thursday on the airport of the Yemeni capital, held by the Houthi rebels.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus indicated that his ears were still ringing since the attack on Thursday, while he was preparing to board a plane in Sanaa.
“The departure lounge next to us was hit, then the control tower,” he said. “If the missile had deviated just a little bit, it could have fallen on our heads,” he continued.
“It doesn’t matter if I was there or not”
On Thursday, Israel announced that it had struck “military targets” of the Houthi rebels, including the Sanaa airport, with the army claiming to have responded to “repeated attacks” by these insurgents who have been launching numerous offensives against the Jewish state for months. , “in solidarity” with the Palestinians.
The Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen including the capital, are supported by Iran, Israel’s sworn enemy. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus therefore considered that 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 assured. The WHO boss was visiting Yemen on behalf of UN chief Antonio Guterres as part of a mission to secure the release of the organization’s detained staff and assess the health and humanitarian situation in this war-ravaged country.
