Yemen’s Houthis acknowledge prime minister, other top officials, killed in Israeli strike

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels acknowledge for the first time that Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi was killed along with a number of other ministers in an Israeli attack on an apartment in the capital Sanaa.

“We announce the martyrdom of the fighter Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser Al-Rahawi… along with several of his ministerial colleagues, as they were targeted by the treacherous Israeli criminal enemy,” a statement by Houthi leader Mahdi al-Mashat says.

Al-Rahawi, who served as prime minister to the Houthi-led government since August 2024, was targeted along with other members of his Houthi-controlled government during a routine workshop held by the government to evaluate its activities and performance over the past year, the rebels’ statement said.

The IDF assesses that the entire Houthi cabinet — including the prime minister and 12 other ministers — were likely killed in Thursday’s strikes in Yemen, Channel 12 reported yesterday, without citing any sources.

The network said the assessment was not definitive and that the IDF was still working to reach a clearer understanding of the strike’s results.

Thursday’s strikes marked the 16th time that Israel has attacked the Iran-backed rebel group in Yemen, located some 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) away.

The Houthis — whose slogan calls for “Death to America, Death to Israel, [and] a Curse on the Jews” — began attacking Israel and maritime traffic in November 2023, a month after the October 7 Hamas massacre in southern Israel.