UN rights chief says Houthi attacks on Saudi airports raise war crimes question

NEW YORK CITY — The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, said attacks by Yemen-based Houthis on Saudi airports raise the question of war crimes, according to an Arab News report of his press briefing on Wednesday.

Arab News reported that Turk said international humanitarian law permits an attack on a civilian airport only if it is a legitimate military target. "If you start attacking civilians, civilian infrastructure, it does raise questions of war crimes, indeed," he said, according to the outlet.

Turk said he was "very worried about the escalation that we see," Arab News reported.

Detained UN staff

Arab News said Turk again raised the case of 71 UN workers held by the Houthis in Yemen. Eight of them are from his own office, and some have been detained for years, according to the report.

"It's totally unacceptable," Turk said, as quoted by Arab News. He described the detentions as "the most flagrant violation" of the privileges and immunities given to UN staff. He said the detainees were held in "very, very dire" conditions and "should be released unconditionally and immediately," according to the outlet.

Attacks on airports

Arab News reported that Turk earlier this month condemned a series of Houthi attacks on airports in Saudi Arabia. The outlet said the attacks had killed or injured dozens of Saudi citizens and foreign nationals. At that time, according to Arab News, Turk called for serious investigations and for those responsible to be held to account.

According to Arab News, five airports in the kingdom, including King Khalid International in Riyadh, have been attacked since Oct. 5. The outlet gave a toll of at least 22 people killed and more than 350 wounded. It did not say who provided those figures.

Arab News reported that Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki, a spokesperson for the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, said on Oct. 15 that King Khalid International alone had been targeted 20 times since the start of the month. The outlet said the attacks have continued and that the coalition stated on Wednesday it had intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile fired toward the city of Taif.

Other remarks

Arab News said Turk also spoke about Israel, where voters went to the polls in a general election on Tuesday. He urged the next government not to continue "the current course of warfare, where you think you're above international law," according to the report. He said he hoped it would "change course massively."

Turk said his office's monitoring and reporting in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria remained "an extremely important function," Arab News reported.

The outlet said he rejected the suggestion that his office had been silent on Hamas. Turk said he had "repeatedly" condemned the Oct. 7 attacks and that his office monitors Hamas and the Palestinian Authority as well as Israeli authorities. According to Arab News, he said his office was "extremely worried" about reports of Palestinians being executed in Gaza, which he called "essentially, extrajudicial killings."

Arab News also reported that Turk said Palestinians in Gaza are confined to less than 30 percent of the territory and face the threat of "ongoing killings" by Israeli forces.

On Lebanon, Turk told Arab News that people displaced from the south had described to him the demolition of homes and destruction of areas along the border with Israel. He recalled a visit at the end of July, during which he toured bombed neighborhoods in Beirut, according to the report.

The details in this report come from a single source, Arab News, and have not been independently confirmed here.