WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says it quickly became apparent the airport was under attack, with strikes "alarmingly" close to where he was sitting near the departure lounge.

The Israeli army said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen before it crossed the border at dawn Saturday. The missile was launched hours after the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, was hit by fresh strikes on Friday.

Israel’s military said it struck multiple targets linked to the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen on Thursday, including Sana’a International Airport and three ports along the western coast.

Israel's military said it struck multiple targets linked to the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen on Thursday, including Sana’a International Airport and three ports along the western coast. Attacks hit Yemen's Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations as well as military infrastructure in the ports of Hodeidah,

The director-general of the World Health Organisation was caught up in a wave of Israeli air strikes on Yemen on Thursday.

An Israeli strike on the international airport in Sanaa, Yemen, on Dec. 26, killed at least four people, according to local media. Houthi attacks on Israel have ramped up in recent weeks.

The operation appears to be targeting Iranian-backed militants who have been stepping up their missile fire on Israel.

Thousands of Yemenis gathered on Friday (December 27) in the capital Sanaa, to protest against the Israeli airstrikes carried out the previous day on Yemen, and to show solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Yemen's Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for an attempted missile attack on Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, a day after Israel carried out multiple strikes across Yemen, including one on Sana'a Airport,