UN official stresses civilian nature of Sanaa Airport

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: United Nations News
28 Dec 2024 04:04
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Julien Harneis stressed that the Sanaa Airport is vital for humanitarian missions in Yemen, after witnessing firsthand the Israeli aggression.

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A destroyed control tower of Sanaa International Airport is seen following Thursday's Israeli airstrikes on Yemen, December 27, 2024.(AP)

Julien Harneis, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Yemen, witnessed firsthand the Israeli aggression on the Sanaa International Airport.

Harneis said that the strikes destroyed air traffic control in the airport and put incoming flights I danger, detailing how one of the strikes injured his colleague. The UN official stressed that the airport is civilian infrastructure, underlining its role in securing humanitarian aid to Yemenis.

He also explained that if the Sanaa Airport is "disabled", humanitarian missions in the country will be paralyzed.

During the time of the strike, Harneis, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and 18 other UN officials were present at the Airport, which was raided twice by Israeli warplanes on Thursday.

Harneis said that the responsibility to protect UN officials and humanitarian lies with parties in conflict, adding that UN staff do not have to prove that they are civilians.

Recounting the harrowing experience, Harneis said that the most terrifying thing was that Israeli strikes occurred while a Yemen Airways flight, carrying hundreds of Yemenis, was preparing to land at the airport.

The Israeli occupation launched a large-scale attack on Yemen while the leader of the Ansar Allah movement, Sayyed Abdul Malik al-Houthi, was delivering his speech on Thursday.

A source told Al Mayadeen that the Israeli aggression on Sanaa and Hodeidah targeted civilian facilities and was carried out with American and British coordination and support.

The source also said that targeting civilian facilities is evidence of the occupation's failure to have a clear target list within the country, stressing that this "will not change the course of the war and will be met with a similar response."