Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s briefing by Stéphanie Tremblay, Associate Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

**Yemen

I have two statements that I will read for you.  We have a first statement on Yemen.  [Note: a revised statement was later issued.]

The Secretary-General condemns the escalation between Yemen and Israel.  Israeli air strikes today on Sana’a International Airport, the Red Sea ports and power stations in Yemen are especially alarming.  The air strikes reportedly resulted in numerous casualties including at least three killed and dozens more injured.

A United Nations Humanitarian Air Service crew member was also injured when the airport was hit.  A high-level UN delegation, headed by World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was at the airport when the strikes occurred.  The delegation had just concluded discussions on the humanitarian situation in Yemen and the release of UN and other detained personnel.

Today’s air strikes follow around a year of escalatory actions by the Houthis in the Red Sea and the region that threaten civilians, regional stability and freedom of maritime navigation. The Secretary-General emphasizes that international law, including humanitarian law as applicable, must be respected at all times; and he appeals to all to respect and protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.  Humanitarian relief personnel must not be targeted and must be respected and protected at all times.

The Secretary-General remains deeply concerned about the risk of further escalation in the region and reiterates his call for all parties concerned to cease all military actions and exercise utmost restraint.  He also warns that air strikes on Red Sea ports and Sana’a airport pose grave risks to humanitarian operations at a time when millions of people are in need of life-saving assistance.  Further escalation in the region also continues to undermine the mediation efforts led by the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen Hans Grundberg to reach a negotiated political solution to the conflict in Yemen.

**Mozambique

The Secretary-General renews his call for the immediate and unconditional release of all UN and other personnel arbitrarily detained by the Houthis.  The Secretary-General takes note of the announcement of the Constitutional Council of Mozambique regarding the outcome of the general elections held on 9 October.  He continues to follow developments closely.

The Secretary-General is concerned about the post-election violence, which has resulted in loss of lives, and the destruction of public and private property.  He urges all political leaders and relevant national stakeholders to defuse tensions including through meaningful dialogue, legal redress, refrain from the use of violence and redouble efforts to seek a peaceful resolution to the ongoing crisis, in a constructive manner, which is essential to the collective future of Mozambicans.  Yes, Edie.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Thank you very much Stephanie.  A few follow up questions.  First, do we know or have any details on who the three people killed were?

Associate Spokesperson:  I do not have these details at this point.  What I do have is, of course, information about our UN colleagues and I can report that all of our UN colleagues are now accounted for.  Our colleague who was injured is receiving medical treatment.  He’s in a hospital right now.  But everybody else is safe and sound and accounted for.

Question:  A couple of other follow ups.  First, what is the status of Dr. Tedros.  Is he, are they staying in Sana’a?  Are they going to be moved out?  Is the UN trying to do anything to get them out quickly?

Associate Spokesperson:  So, I spoke to colleagues on the ground about this, so Dr. Tedros is with his delegation with his team, in Sana’a still.  So, there will be assessments to be made tomorrow morning.  It’s nighttime right now in Yemen, so tomorrow they will assess the airport condition and whether, Mr. Tedros is able to leave.

Question:  And my third question, you said it was a high-level UN team.  What other UN officials were on?  Was the UN Special Envoy, Mr. Grundberg on this delegation?

Associate Spokesperson:  No.  It was a WHO delegation.  Our resident coordinator was also with them.  It was the UN team in Yemen plus the delegation led by Dr. Tedros.  Gabriel?

Question:  Has the UN — I know it’s early on right now — but has the UN expressed their condemnation directly to Israel over this attack.

Associate Spokesperson:  Right now, what we have is this statement, and I’m sure that contacts at ground level and here will also be made.

Question:  And I know you weren’t there, but this sounds like it was pretty serious.  Can you give us an idea on the risk that Dr. Tedros and his team faced?  Any more granularity on that?

Associate Spokesperson:  The information that I have is, as he said himself in a tweet, he and his team, they were at the airport already.  They managed to evacuate safely, as you can imagine in Yemen, they traveled in armored vehicles, so they managed to leave the airport and to go to a safe place and I won’t go into any additional details on this.  Yes, Edie?

Question:  One other question.  I assume that this was a civilian airport, not a military airport?

Associate Spokesperson:  It’s a civilian airport, it’s the airport of Sanaa.  On our side, this airport, as you can see, is used by the UN Humanitarian Air Service.  Colleagues on the ground tell me that through this airport and other airports, also in Yemen, they move humanitarian staff around.

Question:  And as far as the UN knows, were there any Yemeni, Houthi military aircraft or other military equipment at this airport?

Associate Spokesperson:  I don’t have these details.  I will not go into any of these details.

Question:  Stephanie, has the Secretary-General been briefed on this?  I know he’s not in the United States right now.

Associate Spokesperson:  The Secretary-General is continually briefed on developments around the world.  In New York, when he’s in New York or elsewhere.

Question:  But, the idea with Dr. Tedros is to get him out and his team out?

Associate Spokesperson:  His visit to Yemen was finished and so he was leaving the country, so he will proceed when he can with going back to Geneva.

Question:  Another follow-up, Stephanie.  In his tweet, Dr. Tedros said that one of the reasons for his visit was to try and negotiate the release of UN staff who were held.  Did he have any success in that mission?

Associate Spokesperson:  I asked that question to our colleagues on the ground, and the visit by Dr. Tedros was positive, and of course, we continue to call for the release of all the staff that’s been detained, UN and others.  Thank you very much.