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| - Children in critical need of medical care were evacuated Monday from Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa, in what the United Nations hopes will be the first of many mercy flights. Seven young patients and their families had gathered at Sanaa airport, closed to commercial flights since 2016, clutching their transport documents for the trip to Amman. "This is the first of what we hope and believe will be many flights," said UN Resident Coordinator for Yemen Lise Grande. "It's a very important day, it's a day of hope. It shows that everyone wants the people who need help to get that help," she told reporters. "The key is to have many flights, bigger planes, so that the people who need aid can get to the places where they will receive it." Yemen's internationally recognised government, backed by a Saudi-led military coalition, has been fighting Iran-backed Huthi rebels since 2014 when they seized control of the capital. In November, the coalition -- which controls Yemen's airspace -- said patients needing medical care would be allowed to fly out of Sanaa. The move was among confidence-building measures aimed at ending the five-year war that has killed thousands of people and displaced millions in what the UN has termed the world's worst humanitarian crisis. One of the children waiting for the evacuation flight, Abdullah Abed, is suffering from kidney failure and needs an organ transplant, his father told AFP. "We are overjoyed," Abed Ali Murshid said. "Today is the start of the air bridge that we have been waiting for two years." "Severe diseases in Yemen are many, and people need to travel. The United Nations must operate the air bridge regularly, send abroad patients suffering from diseases, open Sanaa airport, and end the blockade of Yemen," he said. The Huthis on Sunday criticised the evacuation plan as inadequate for the needs of thousands of sick people in urgent need of medical care. "The World Health Organization said it will transport via a small UN plane only seven patients with their escorts per flight," the rebels said, in a statement carried by their Al-Masira television. "The number of people signed up for medical evacuations are around 32,000 patients with serious illnesses." The Norwegian Refugee Council welcomed the start of the humanitarian airlift, saying thousands of Yemenis had been handed down a "death sentence" when the coalition closed down Sanaa airport. "Today's move comes too late for thousands of Yemenis who died waiting to leave the country for urgent life-saving care," said Mohamed Abdi, the NRC's country director for Yemen. "We hope that these medical flights will save the lives of other Yemenis. Many more are still waiting to get the healthcare they need." str-dm/sls/hc
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