At around 5:00 pm on Thursday, 26 December 2024, at least four civilians were killed – an elderly woman, an elderly man, and two young men – and at least 13 civilians were injured, including the co-pilot of a United Nations aircraft, in declared Israeli airstrikes on the Sana’a International Airport in Sana’a, Yemen.

At 5:15pm local time, the IDF announced on Telegram that “A short while ago, following the approval of operational plans by the Chief of the General Staff, the Minister of Defense, and the Prime Minister, IAF fighter jets conducted intelligence-based strikes on military targets belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime on the western coast and inland Yemen.” The announcement specified that “The targets that were struck by the IDF include military infrastructure used by the Houthi terrorist regime for its military activities in both the Sana’a International Airport and the Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations.” The statement included further rationale for why the strikes were carried out on the Houthis, published in full below.

Initial reports from the Palestinian Information Center stated that there were “two martyrs”, and “others” injured as a result of Israeli airstrikes on the Sana’a airport.

The Yemeni Ministry of Health and Environment released a statement of condemnation, stating the strikes came from “US-backed Israeli” aircraft that hit “civilians and civilian infrastructure” at the airport. At the time of the release of the statement, they reported a toll of three killed civilians and 13 injured from the strikes on the airport, which occurred “as the United Nations plane was taking off…which was carrying the Director of the World Health Organization (WHO), the organization’s resident coordinator, the humanitarian representative, the UNICEF representative, and the communications director” who they said “witnessed” the “deliberate bombing of civilians and civilian infrastructure” by the Israeli forces, alleging that it constituted a “war crime in itself and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”

Sources later quoted the Yemeni Health Ministry spokesperson who stated that out of the civilians killed, two were employees of the airport, and that 14 civilians were injured “including the co-pilot of a UN plane.”

Akhbaralyom News later updated the toll of civilians injured to 16 according to the Yemeni Ministry of Health. Twitter/X user  @a_alkumaim noted that three of those injured were also employees of Sana’a International Airport, that three others injured were employees of Yemenia Airlines, and that the strikes occurred in the afternoon.

Facebook user Abu Mohammad al-Maqdashi posted about the death of his grandmother in the strike, saying “My grandmother was martyred, may God have mercy on her soul, at Sana’a airport.”

Friends and relatives of the other civilians killed shared their names on social media: Yahya Mani’ Muqbal Dhiban al-Waili, Imad Mohammed al-Naimi, and Ahmed Yahya Hussein Rashid.

According to Almshr al Almshr, the tribal leader “Sheikh” Yahya Dhiban al-Waili was killed in the airstrikes “while he was waiting in the waiting room, intending to travel to Egypt.”

Among those that expressed condolences for Yahya was Abu Qayed al-Araaj al-Waili, a representatives of the al-Araj tribe who posted “The al-Araj tribe offers its condolences to the al-Dhaiban brothers in particular and to all the al-Muqbil and Aila families on the martyrdom of Sheikh Yahya Mani’ Dhaiban al-Waili”  in the airstrikes at the airport. Twitter/X users @zybdalhmyd3 and @RafeegSallah mourned Yahya’s death, calling him “mujahid”. Based on this information, Yahya’s civilian status has been classified as contested until further information is found.

Yahya’s friend Abu Zayd al-Abas, a poet, penned a moving tribute to him, calling him “the head of a people, the sheikh of his tribe, and a leader among his people”, saying “Yemen, O Sheikh Yahya, is in pain over your loss”, and “He lived with eternal goodness and good morals/ And chivalry, generosity, and nobility were in him/ His biography exudes goodness and his history is glorious.”

Pictures of Sheikh Yahya show an elderly, greying man with a thick beard and an air of authority wearing traditional clothing, and who in one photo is seen seated smiling with a little child, possibly his grandchild.

Ahmed Yahya Rashid was, according to Facebook user Mohammad Abdelraheem Alhamiri, waiting at the airport “for his uncle to arrive on the plane that landed during the” airstrikes. Mohammad passed on condolences to his friend, Ahmed’s brother “Rashid Yahya Rashid and all his dear brothers and the entire Rashid family.”

Abu Yahya Sarif and Adham Rashid posted about the funeral of Ahmed Rashid, Abu calling the funeral “a majestic scene”, with Adham calling Ahmed a “Lieutenant Colonel.” Images of Ahmed shared by friends and relatives show him as a young man dressed in what appears to be combat fatigues. Based on this information, Yahya’s civilian status has been classified as contested until further information is found.

According to sources on social media, Imad Al-Naimi, the son of a Judge, and a young engineer by profession, was also waiting at the airport in order to receive a member of his family arriving in the Yemenia Airplane when he was killed in the strikes, with the Yemen American Network stated that “Imad Al-Naimi was receiving his family at Sana’a Airport….He passed away….as a result of the Israeli bombing of Sana’a International Airport, which coincided with the moment he was waiting for the arrival of the Yemenia plane, according to local sources.”

Users on social media expressed condolences and tributes, with Imad’s cousin Nagmeldin Alfar posting “The eye sheds tears, the heart is sad, and we are truly saddened by your departure”, and Abu al-Hamzeh Majli calling Imad “a man of steadfastness and zeal.” Hussain Shebam and Mohammad bin Ajlan offered their condolences to Imad’s father, Judge Mohammed Ahmed Al-Naim, and his three surviving brothers Majed, Ali and Abdullah, along with “Condolences also go out to all his uncles and maternal uncles and the entire honorable family.”

Facebook user Mohammed Ahsan posted the details for the funeral of Imad, saying “I miss you so much, Imad….May you be granted paradise, my lion.” A video of the funeral posted by relatives and friends showed a large crowd gathered to pay respects to Imad, and to pass on condolences to his grieving family.

Photos shared of Imad showed him as a young, clean shaven man with a cheerful smile, with one picture of him at his graduation ceremony, another of him smartly dressed in a western suit, one where he was partaking in traditional festivities, and another of him dressed in his traditional clothing and headgear. A final, tragic photo shared by Mohammed Ahsan was a selfie sent to him by Imad with the control tower in view, waiting for his relative at the airport, a short time before the strikes hit. Mohammad captioned it “The last moments of martyr Imad Mohammed Al-Naimi before his martyrdom next to the Sana’a Airport tower. May God have mercy on you, lion.”

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who was at the airport at the time of the strikes, published a statement saying that following the completion of their mission in Yemen that day, as they were “about to board” their flight at “around 5 pm local time”, the airport “came under aerial bombardment.” He stated that one of their plane’s crew members were injured, and that “at least two people were reported killed at the airport.” He further added that “the air traffic control tower, the departure lounge — just a few meters from where we were — and the runway were damaged” and said they needed to wait for the airport damage to be repaired before they could leave. After stating that his UN and WHO colleagues and he were safe, he expressed “heartfelt condolences to the families whose loved ones lost their lives in the attack.”

Fares Hassan al-Thawr posted that the UN crew member injured was the co-pilot of the aircraft. Fares also shared an image of the interior of a devastated part of the airport.

Ten News posted a series of images with the captions “Israeli bombing destroys Sana’a International Airport tower and aircraft at the civilian airport…..destroys large parts of the departure hall at Sana’a International Airport as aircraft continue to fly.”

The images show aircraft on the damaged landing strip with smoke rising in the distance, and a massive fire at the airport viewed from a distance.

Twitter/X user a_shaban_yemen posted that the strikes hit the passenger terminal at the airport as well as the air traffic control tower, and that there were casualties “among workers and civilian passengers.” @dhUmZOg16ji5n5B posted that the airport was bombed while a civilian plane was about to land, and that “there were wounded among the employees and families of the passengers who were waiting for the passengers.”

Al Hadath News and Yemeni in America posted a video which showed the civilian airplane, of Yemenia Airlines, descending in the early moments of the strikes, which the latter captioned “Minutes after the bombing, the pilot of a Yemenia Airlines plane arriving from Amman Airport in Jordan was able to land at Sana’a International Airport after the airport, control tower, and surrounding areas were bombed by the [Israeli] air force.” Yemeni in America added in other posts that the plane was full of passengers, and that the pilot landed “under a barrage of shelling and rising smoke”, even after the air traffic control was bombed and “rendered out of service”, praising the pilots actions as “exceptional and heroic.” They further reported that the disembarked passengers panicked in fear, resulting in “a number of injuries” from the chaos.

Hmer Yahya Battah & Ibrahim Hammoud Asqeen posted a video of the chaos in the airport after the passengers disembarked from the plane, with civilian passengers including women and children rushing to escape the building, in many instances abandoning their luggage. They added that there was “widespread panic among civilians waiting for flights.”

TV al-Masirah shared a video interview of four injured men being treated, with injuries seen to their arms, and heads. One of the victims told al-Masirah that the runway was hit with three strikes, and then the tower was hit. He was injured after he fled the runway, and then the tower was bombed. The victim emphasized that it was a civilian airport and there are no military movements, activities, or military aircraft.

Abdalaziz Abu-hadi & Fawzi al-Mourisi shared a video  of emergency vehicles rushing to the site of the strikes, with debris and heavily damaged buildings in sight. The footage also showed the interior of the airport, shattered glass everywhere, completely abandoned in a rush evidenced by the passenger luggage scattered in the departure lounge and baggage arrival. The video shared had disturbing footage of blood splatters and stains showing signs of dragged bodies, and parts of what appeared to be dismembered human remains. A car outside the airport was seen as damaged, with blood stains and what appeared to be some mutilated remains on the car seats, and blood pooled on the ground near it. The air traffic tower could be seen severely damaged from the strikes.

Ibrahim Kamel Abdelwahab al-Sawli posted a video of the strikes as seen from a distance with large smoke plumes emerging, the destroyed air traffic control tower engulfed in smoke, and the airport burning in a torrential fire as sirens blare in the background. Along with the video he alleged that apart from the civilians killed, there were also “a number of Houthi militia members” killed, and claimed that their “identities were kept secret. They were killed in the airport tower.”