Israel Escalates Attacks on Yemen, Nearly Hits WHO Chief

Israel Escalates Attacks on Yemen, Nearly Hits WHO Chief

Dec. 28—On Dec. 26, Israel launched major attacks on the port cities of Hodeidah and Ras Isa, as well as in Yemen’s capital Sana’a. The death count so far stands at six with forty injured, and both the Hodeidah and Ras Isa ports have been completely put out of service. The strikes included the Sana’a International Airport, where the airport control tower was struck and two airport employees killed. A source told Al Mayadeen that the Israeli aggression on Sana’a and Hodeidah directly targeted civilian facilities, and was carried out with the U.S. and U.K.’s coordination and support.

The strike on Sana’a’s airport nearly struck the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who was on a high-level UN delegation to Yemen trying to assess the humanitarian crisis there. The Israeli strike came “meters away” from hitting Dr. Tedros, and wounded a crew member on the plane that Tedros was trying to board.

On Dec. 26 the office of UN Secretary General António Guterres issued a statement denouncing this escalation of hostilities and calling the Israeli air strikes “especially alarming” to target the airport while the WHO head was present. The UN statement stressed, “The secretary general condemns the escalation between Yemen and Israel. Israeli airstrikes today on Sana’a international airport, the Red Sea ports and power stations in Yemen are especially alarming.” The UN leader also has harsh words for the Houthis who have detained several UN staff. The UN Security Council meeting on Dec. 30 is scheduled to address this escalating crisis.

While the press reported coordination with the U.S, and U.K., sources in Washington and Israel pointed out that Israel required no such coordination or help to carry out the strikes, and that the U.S. was embarrassed about the apparent deliberate timing of the attack on the Sana Airport while the WHO chief was present. "This is Bibi's handiwork," said a source of the attack on the airport, referring to its timing and initiation coming from the Butcher of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu. "Look Bibi is coming under pressure to sign on to a hostage/ceasefire deal in Gaza. The reality is that he alone now blocks the deal that was worked out by his own negotiators. So, he starts a new round of escalated hostilities against the Houthis, who are setting themselves up for annihilation with their attacks on Gulf shipping and the few missiles they hurl at Israel. The word is that the Iranians have tried to tell them to cool it, to not give Netanyahu any excuses to escalate towards a regional war, the which is strongly opposed by the Israeli military and security people, and believe it or not, I know is still opposed by the government of Kamala Harris, and her little puppet Joe Biden. But Bibi wants and needs more war, to kill more Palestinian and others and to keep Israel under his state of terror. "

During an interview with Israel’s Now14 television on Dec. 26, Netanyahu said: “We are just starting with them (the Houthis--ed). We will beat them to the bone until they understand, too.” In a separate video statement released Dec. 26, Netanyahu said “We are determined to cut off this tentacle of Iran’s terrorist axis of evil. We will continue until we complete what we have started.”