On Thursday 26 December, Israel carried out a large-scale air attack in Yemen, bombing several places identified by the army as “military infrastructure” of the Houthis, a Shiite militia supported by Iran which has been waging a bloody civil war against the government since 2011 of the country. Among the targets, the international airport of the capital Sana’a, the ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Kanatib, the power plants of Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib were hit. The attack caused at least three deaths and 14 injuries. It is the fourth time Israel has bombed Yemen this year.
Israel carried out a similar bombing less than a week ago, in response to the Houthis launching a missile into Israel, which was intercepted by Israeli defense systems. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “that Israel will continue to bomb him until we finish the job.”
The director of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who was at Sana’a airport during the bombing, was also involved in the Israeli attack. All of its staff remained unharmed while they were in Yemen to negotiate the release of some United Nations employees and assess the health and humanitarian situation in the country.
Nearly 50 Palestinians were killed on Thursday in an Israeli airstrike on a building opposite the headquarters of the Kamal Adwan hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, including three medical staff and workers, the Turkish news agency reported. Anadolu, also reported by the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera, which in turn speaks of 5 members of medical staff killed. «There are around 50 dead, including 3 members of our medical staff, under the rubble of a building opposite the Kamal Adwan hospital», said iHussam Abu Safia, director of the hospital, quoted by Anadolu. «Abu Safia stated that medical personnel and hospital workers were present in the building, where they resided with their families. The director identified the slain staff members as Ahmed Samour, a pediatrician, Israa, a laboratory technician, and Fares, a hospital maintenance technician,” Anadolu writes.
At least 75 patients have been evicted from the Palestinian hospital Kamal Adwan of Beit Lahia, in the north of the Gaza Strip, and gathered in the courtyard waiting to leave, after the eviction order ‘within 15 minutes’ given by the Israeli army, which intends to carry out a military operation there: the writes the website of the broadcaster Al Jazeera.
«In the final days of the year, there seems to be no end to the deadly threats to Gaza’s children. Over the past three days, at least eleven children have been reported killed in attacks. Now we are also seeing children dying due to the cold and lack of adequate shelter. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, four newborns and infants have died from hypothermia in the last few days. These avoidable deaths expose the desperate and worsening conditions faced by families and children in Gaza.” This was stated in a note by Unicef regional director for the Middle East and North Africa Edouard Beigbeder. The UNICEF teams in the field, he explains, “continue to work tirelessly, distributing winter clothing, blankets and emergency supplies to children. But the ability of humanitarian agencies to deliver life-saving aid on the scale needed remains severely limited. Safe and unrestricted humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip and its interior, to reach the affected populations wherever they are, even in the north, – he underlines – is fundamental. All access crossings must be open, including for fuel and materials needed to operate and rehabilitate essential infrastructure and commercial supplies. Safe movement for humanitarian workers and supplies across the Gaza Strip must be ensured to safely reach communities in desperate need. As we approach a new year, children have the right to a future free from fear and full of promise. This begins – he concludes – with an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza, with the release of all hostages and with a renewed commitment to work together to address the urgent needs of children and their families”.
Meanwhile The UN condemned the Israeli attacks on Yemen and those of the Houthis on Israel. «Israel’s airstrikes on Sana’a international airport, Red Sea ports and power plants in Yemen are alarming. The airstrikes killed at least three people and injured dozens». Guterres also recalled that the Israeli operations follow a year of serious actions by the Houthis in the Red Sea and the region, which have put civilians at risk. The Secretary-General stressed the importance of respecting international humanitarian law and protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure. “Humanitarian personnel – he continued – must not be targeted but must always be respected.”
