Israeli airstrike kills Houthi rebel prime minister in Yemen’s capital

CAIRO (AP) – An Israeli air strike killed the Prime Minister of the Government controlled by the Houthi rebels in the capital of Yemen, Sanaa, The Houthis said on Saturday. He was the highest Houthi official killed during the Israeli campaign against the rebels supported by Iran.

Ahmed al-Rahawi was killed In Thursday’s strike in Sanaa With a number of ministers, the rebels said in a statement. Other ministers and officials were injured, the press release added without providing details.

The Prime Minister was targeted with other members of his government controlled by Houthi during a “routine workshop run by the government to assess its activities and performance during the past year,” the Houthi statement said.

Thursday’s strike took place while the television channel belonging to the rebels broadcast a speech by Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the secret leader of the rebel group, in which he shared updates on the latest developments in Gaza and promising reprisals against Israel. High Houthi officials met to watch the pre-recorded speeches of Al-Houthi.

Al-Rahawi was not part of the inner circle around Al-Houthi which manages the group’s military and strategic affairs. His government, like the previous ones, was responsible for managing daily civil affairs in Sanaa and other areas held by the Houthi.

The strike that killed the Prime Minister targeted a meeting for Houthi leaders in a villa in Beit Baws, a former village in southern Sanaa, three tribal chiefs told the Associated Press. They spoke under the cover of anonymity because they feared the repercussions.

On Thursday, the Israeli army said that it “precisely reached a military target of the Houthi terrorist regime in the Sanaa region in Yemen”. Late Saturday, the army in a statement confirmed the murder of Al-Rahawi “with other senior officials”. He said senior officials among the dozens of the affected establishment were responsible for “terrorist actions” against Israel.

“Yemen endures a lot for the victory of the Palestinian people,” said Al-Rahawi An Israeli strike last week This struck an installation belonging to the country’s main oil company, which is controlled by the Sanaa rebels, as well as by a power plant.

The strike of August 24 occurred three days after the Houthis launched a ballistic missile to Israel that its soldiers described as the first cluster bomb that the rebels had launched there since 2023.

The Prime Minister was from the southern province of Abyan and was an ally for Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. He combined with the Houthis when the rebels invaded Sanaa, and a large part of the north and the center of the country in 2014, initiating the long civil war of the country. He was appointed Prime Minister in August 2024.

The United States and Israel began their air and naval campaign against Houthis in response to missile and rebels’ drone attacks against Israel and on ships in the Red Sea. The Houthis targeted ships in response to War in GazaSaying that they acted in solidarity with the Palestinians. Their attacks in the past two years have turned upside down Red Sea Shippingthrough which about $ 1 billion of dollars succeed each year.

The United States and Israeli strikes have killed dozens of people in Yemen. An American strike in April struck a prison with African migrants in the north of Sadaa province, Kill at least 68 people and hurt 47 others.

Ahmed Nagi, a main analyst in Yemen of the international crisis group, a reflection group based in Brussels, described the murder of Prime Minister Houthi as “serious reverse” for the rebels.

He said that this marks an Israeli passage in the abolition of the infrastructure of the rebels to target their leaders, including military personalities, who “constitute a greater threat to their command structure”.

In May, the Trump administration announced an agreement with the Houthis To put an end to air strikes in exchange for the end of the attacks against shipping. The rebels, however, said that the agreement did not include the attacks interrupted against targets which, she said, were aligned with Israel.