The coordinator of the United Nations Organization for humanitarian aid in Yemen, present at the airport of the capital of the country on the Arabian Peninsula when it was bombed last Thursday by the Israeli Air Force, condemned yesterday Friday the strikes on this “civilian” installation, “absolutely vital” for the deliveries of humanitarian material, after more than ten years of war.

On Thursday, the Israeli military announced that it had hit “military targets”, Houthi installations, including the airport in Sana’a, in retaliation for “repeated attacks” by the movement that has been targeted by Israel for months in a sign of ” solidarity’ to the Palestinians.

The Houthis, who control most of northern Yemen, including the capital, are backed by Iran, Israel’s sworn enemy.

Julien Harness, the UN’s humanitarian aid coordinator in Yemen, stressed that the airport is “a civilian facility used by the United Nations”.

“It’s used by the International Committee of the Red Cross, it’s used for civilian flights — that’s what it’s for,” insisted Mr. Harnes speaking to the press via video link from Yemen.

“Warring parties have an obligation to ensure that they do not hit civilian targets,” he continued. “The obligation is theirs, not ours. We are not required to prove that we are civilians”, he added.

Julian Harness said he was at the airport at the time of the Israeli bombings, alongside the director-general of the World Health Organization and eighteen other UN officials and workers.

“There was an aerial bombardment about 300 meters south of our position and another about 300 meters north,” he said.

“The most frightening thing (…) is that these bombings took place (…) as a Yemenia Airways airliner, carrying hundreds of Yemenis, was preparing to land,” he said.

That aircraft “landed, was moving on the runway when the control tower was destroyed,” he explained. “Things could have been much, much worse.”

A UN worker was injured. The rest of the UN team was able to take shelter inside armored vehicles.

The Houthis claimed at least six dead in the shelling at the airport.

The official stressed that he had “no indication that airstrikes could be carried out” on the facility.

According to Mr. Harnes, the airport in Sanaa is “absolutely vital” for humanitarian aid to continue to reach Yemen, where civil war broke out in 2014. That armed conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people and caused one of the worst humanitarian crises on the planet. .

“If this airport is not operational, humanitarian operations will be paralyzed,” he warned.

Since the war in the Gaza Strip broke out on October 7, 2023, triggered by an unprecedented attack by Hamas against southern sectors of Israeli territory, the Houthis have launched several attacks against Israel, which has repeatedly retaliated.