Houthi PM died in Israeli airstrike, Yemeni terror group says

Before the attack on Sanaa, the Houthis fired, for the first time, a missile containing a new type of cluster sub-munitions at Israel.

By JNS

The Houthi prime minister in Yemen, Ahmed al-Rahawi, and a number of his ministers were slain in an Israeli airstrike on the capital city of Sanaa on Aug. 28, 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,” CNN cited a formal statement carried on Houthi-run television.

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.

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 missiles 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-munitions 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.

Defense 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 senior-most official to die in the Israeli-Houthi conflict so far.

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.