Israeli strikes on Sanaa killed Houthi-backed PM, ministers: Houthis

Sanaa: Yemen’s Houthi group said on Saturday that Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi of the Houthi-backed government, along with several other Ministers, was killed in Israeli airstrikes on the capital Sanaa earlier this week.

“We announce the martyrdom of Ahmed Ghaleb al-Rahawi, Prime Minister of the Government of Change and Construction, along with a number of his fellow Ministers on Thursday,” the group said in a statement.

It said the officials were hit during a workshop reviewing government activities over the past year, Xinhua news agency reported.

Several other Ministers were wounded and remain in the hospital.

The statement did not say how many Ministers were killed.

The Houthis pledged the government would continue functioning and vowed retaliation against Israel “very soon”.

The group had initially denied casualties from Thursday’s strikes, despite reports of Rahawi’s death.

Israel said its Air Force carried out a “significant operation” targeting a meeting of the Houthi cabinet in Sanaa while members were watching a speech by the group’s leader, Abdulmalik al-Houthi, on the Gaza war.

A Houthi source said Israeli warplanes launched 10 airstrikes on a building in southern Sanaa where the meeting was being held.

The strike marks the most serious blow to the Houthis since they began launching missile and drone attacks against Israel in November 2023 in support of Palestinians during the Gaza war.

The Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014, forcing the internationally recognised Yemeni government into exile in Aden.

Since then, the group has controlled much of northern Yemen, including Sanaa and the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, and set up an unrecognised government in the capital.

Earlier in the week, Israeli strikes hit multiple areas across Sanaa, killing at least 10 people and wounding 102 others, according to the Houthi-run Health Ministry and government officials.

The Houthis have launched missiles and drones toward Israel and targeted ships in the Red Sea throughout Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

The rebels said their attacks are in solidarity with the Palestinians.

In response to the Houthi attacks, Israel and a US-led coalition pounded the rebel-held areas in Yemen, including Sanaa and the strategic coastal city of Hodeidah.

Israeli strikes knocked the Sanaa airport out of service in May.

The Trump administration announced a deal with the Houthis to end the airstrikes in return for an end to attacks on shipping in May.

The rebels, however, said the agreement did not include halting attacks on targets it believed were aligned with Israel.

IANS