The Houthi prime minister in Yemen, Ahmed al-Rahawi, and several of his Cabinet members were slain in an Israeli airstrike on the capital city of Sanaa on Aug. 28, the Israel Defence Forces and the Iranian-backed group confirmed on Saturday.
“The Israeli enemy targeted the prime minister and several ministers during a routine workshop held by the government to evaluate its activity and performance over the past year,” according to a formal statement carried on Houthi-run television and cited by CNN.
A Houthi spokesman said on Saturday that al-Rahawi and several of his colleagues were killed and some were wounded, without specifying their names, The New York Times reported.
The IDF stated on Saturday that it “struck a facility that hosted dozens of senior officials of the Houthi terrorist regime.” These officials were “responsible for the use of force, the military buildup of the Houthi terror regime, and the advancement of terror actions against Israel, along with other key Senior Houthi officials.”
According to the Israeli military, the strike in Yemen — a distance of over 2,000 kilometres (1,300 miles) from the Jewish state — “was made possible by seizing an intelligence opportunity and completing a rapid operational cycle, which took place within a few hours.”
Although authority in the Shi’ite Houthi group is concentrated in the hands of religious leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the Israeli Air Force attack marked an escalation in efforts to foil the repeated Houthi missile strikes on the Jewish state.
Before the attack on Sanaa, the Houthis fired, for the first time, a missile containing a new type of cluster sub-munition at Israel.
According to AP, citing Houthi-government sources, Israel’s airstrikes on Thursday hit several areas across the Yemeni capital, killing at least 10 people and wounding 102 others.
“The IDF is operating decisively against the Houthi terrorist regime, while simultaneously intensifying strikes against the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza, and will continue to act to remove any threat to the citizens of the State of Israel,” the Israeli military said on Thursday.
“The Houthi terrorist organization has been operating under Iranian direction and funding to harm the state and its allies since the beginning of the war, undermining regional stability and disrupting global freedom of navigation,” the IDF statement added.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a separate statement: “As we warned the Houthis in Yemen: After the plague of darkness comes the plague of the firstborn. Whoever raises a hand against Israel—his hand will be cut off.”
Al-Rahawi served as prime minister to the Houthi-led rebels in the Yemeni territory under their control since August 2024. He was the most senior official to die in the Israeli-Houthi conflict so far.
Israeli government and cabinet meetings will be held in a secret location on Sunday following the elimination of the Houthi prime minister and other senior officials, Ynet reported.
The Houthis started attacking the Jewish state in the wake of the Hamas-led invasion and massacre on Oct. 7, 2023. The Yemeni group said it joined the war in an expression of solidarity with the Palestinians.
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