Tel Aviv [Israel], December 27: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had only just begun its campaign against the Houthis, after the Israeli military carried out airstrikes in several areas in Yemen.
Reuters reported on December 27 that Israel attacked many Houthi targets in Yemen, including Sanaa international airport, while Houthi media said at least 6 people were killed.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was about to board a plane on December 26 when the airport was attacked, injuring a crew member.
The WHO chief said he was in Yemen to negotiate the release of detained UN staff, in addition to the humanitarian situation.
"As we were about to board the flight from Sanaa... the airport was hit by an air strike. One crew member was injured. The air traffic control tower, the departure lounge, just a few metres away from us, and the runway were damaged," Mr Ghebreyesus said, adding that he and his colleagues were safe.
The Israeli military said that in addition to the airport, it also targeted military infrastructure at the ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Kanatib on Yemen's west coast. The Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power plants in Yemen were also among the airstrikes.
The Houthi-controlled Saba news agency said three people were killed in attacks on the airport and three were killed in Hodeidah, while 40 others were wounded in the attacks.
The Houthis then declared their readiness to respond quickly to the attack and respond "escalation with escalation".
"We are just getting started with them," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with Channel 14.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the Israeli air strike as "particularly alarming" after "a year of escalating Houthi activity", according to a UN spokesman.
The spokesman said Mr. Guterres was concerned about the risk of further escalation and called on all parties involved to cease military actions and exercise maximum restraint. He also warned that the airstrikes on Red Sea ports and Sanaa airport posed a serious risk to humanitarian operations at a time when millions of people are in need of life-saving assistance.
Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon said earlier that the Security Council was scheduled to meet on December 30 to discuss the Houthi attacks on Israel. On December 21, the Israeli military failed to intercept a missile fired from Yemen toward the Tel Aviv-Jaffa area, in an incident that injured 14 people.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
