Updated December 31, 2024 at 14:00 PM ET
After barely escaping an Israeli airstrike, the head of the World Health Organization is urging Israel to stop attacking health care facilities in Gaza.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and a United Nation delegation were waiting to board a plane last week at the international airport in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, when Israel attacked the facility.
Israel's military said it struck the international airport because it was allegedly being used by Yemen's Houthi rebels to smuggle Iranian weapons and allow entry for senior Iranian officials. Three people were killed and dozens injured.
A week later, Ghebreyesus told Morning Edition that he has tinnitus caused by the explosion, which he hopes is temporary.
"The recent experience in Yemen, the same sound? It just comes to my mind every now and then, even from childhood," said Ghebreyesu. "I know that sound. I know the image. I know the smell. I know it."
He grew up in the civil war-affected Tigray region of Ethiopia, and he is familiar with the irreversible and traumatic consequences of war.
Days after the airport attack, Israeli forces raided one of the last operating hospitals in northern Gaza and forcibly removed patients and staff from the facility, the Associated Press reports. The Israeli military said the hospital was being used by Hamas and that several people it detained participated in the Oct. 7 attack.
The World Health Organization describes the health crisis in Gaza as depleted and severely under-resourced. Ghebreyesus says the state of Gaza is indescribable, and that hospital functionality is dropping as the need for medical assistance continues to rise. Out of the 36 hospitals Gaza had, only 16 remain partially functional.
"When we call for a ceasefire, we're saying, 'please look for the alternative … peace,'" he said. "It's in the best interest of Israel as well."
NPR's Leila Fadel spoke to Ghebreyesus about escaping the airstrikes in Yemen, his call for Israel to stop attacking Gaza's health facilities and the state of the strip overall.
The following excerpt has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Leila Fadel: The Israeli military said it was not aware you and the U.N. delegation were at the airport. Do you believe that?
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: I can't really say anything about that. But what I know is we have done the regular notification, what they call UN term deconfliction protocol and everybody that should know was aware.
Fadel: Including the Israelis?
Ghebreyesus: That's what I would expect.
Fadel: Since we're talking about Yemen, I would love to get into the public health challenges. What did you learn when you visited?
Ghebreyesus: A crisis in Yemen has been there for more than ten years now. Out of the 78 million population, almost close to half needs humanitarian aid. The cholera outbreak in Yemen is the largest on earth. Not only cholera, but measles and polio has returned to the country. But my mission was not actually for the humanitarian situation. It was to negotiate with the Houthis, to release our colleagues who have been in detention for some time.
Fadel: I want to turn to Gaza where health care workers continue their work under great risk. You recently called on Israel to stop attacking hospitals. What prompted that call?
Ghebreyesus: The level of destruction of health facilities in Gaza is something that we have never seen before. Out of 36 total hospitals that Gaza has, 20 are out of function already. The remaining 16 are partially functional. And when hospitals are destroyed like that, while the health needs of the population is increasing, because of trauma, injuries are on the increase, many people who could have been saved are dying because of lack of services. That's why we're asking Israel to protect health facilities.
Fadel: How much of the alarm with your statement is about the recent raid at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in North Gaza? Now, the Israeli military said among the 240 people it took, it included 15 people they say participated in the Oct. 7 attack. I mean, does the explanation by the Israeli military that they're doing this to go after Hamas make it acceptable to go after hospitals?
Ghebreyesus: It doesn't make it acceptable because health facilities should be protected. And if you see not only health facilities, but the level of destruction in Gaza is really something that you cannot even describe in words.
More than 45,000 people have been killed. More than 60% are women and children. This alone is enough to stop the war.
I know war. I know war as a child. And that's why I hate war. The only thing I know related to war is death. Destruction. And then, of course, those who survive. Displacement. Deprivation. Hunger. That's what I know. Grief. Mothers crying. So, when we call for a ceasefire, we're saying, please look for the alternative, peace. It's in the best interest of Israel as well.
I don't think war will be the solution.
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