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Agence France-Presse

Israel’s military said on Saturday it had struck a facility in the area of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, killing officials from the Arabian peninsula country’s Houthi rebel group including their prime minister.
Israeli forces “struck a facility that hosted dozens of senior officials of the Houthi terrorist regime”, said a statement, adding that the attack had taken place on Thursday.
“Among the senior officials present at the site during the strike was the Houthi Prime Minister, Ahmed al-Rahawi, who was eliminated in the strike, along with additional senior officials,” the military said.
The Houthis on Saturday confirmed their prime minister had been killed.
The Iran-backed Houthis, who have launched repeated drone and missile attacks on Israel since the war erupted in October 2023, vowed to avenge the premier’s death.
Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi, who was appointed last year, was killed along with other officials in the Israeli attack on Thursday, the rebels said.
Israel has been striking Houthi targets for months in response to missile attacks by the rebels, who claim solidarity with the Palestinians.
“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 Houthi statement said.
“Others among their companions were injured with moderate to serious wounds and are receiving medical care since Thursday afternoon,” it added.

On Thursday, Israeli forces said they “struck a Houthi terrorist regime military target”. Unsourced Yemeni media reports of Rahawi’s death were not confirmed at the time.
The Houthis called the gathering that was hit “a routine workshop organised by the government to evaluate its activities and performance over the past year”.
The head of the rebels’ supreme political council, Mehdi al-Mashat, vowed to avenge the killing of the prime minister and his colleagues.
“We promise to God, to the dear Yemeni people and the families of the martyrs and wounded that we will take revenge,” Mashat said in a video message posted on Telegram.
He warned foreign companies to leave Israel “before it’s too late”.
US-based Yemen analyst Mohammed al-Basha said the Israeli operation pointed to a change in strategy after previously targeting infrastructure such as ports and power stations.
“The strikes indicate a shift in Israeli operational focus away from transportation and energy infrastructure toward targeted assassinations of high-value personnel,” said Basha, author of the Basha Report.
It is “an escalation that, regardless of the final casualty count, is likely to shake the Houthi leadership at its core”, he added.
“This operation bears the hallmarks of a signals intelligence-driven strike, and it is possible that additional senior Houthi leaders were en route to the location.”


Rahawi had made a public appearance on Wednesday, attending an event organised by the Houthi Ministry of Endowments in Sanaa.
He came from the southern province of Abyan, which is not part of the large swathes of Yemen under Houthi control.
The rebels have traditionally reserved the prime minister role for southerners in an attempt to win hearts and minds in the south.
Deputy Prime Minister Mohammed Ahmed Miftah was appointed as interim prime minister following Rahawi’s death, the Houthis announced separately.
The rebel group is part of Iran’s “axis of resistance”, an anti-Israel alliance of militant groups across much of the Middle East.
Rahawi was an ally to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh. He allied himself with the Houthis when the rebels overran Sanaa, and much of the north and centre of the country in 2014, initiating the country’s long-running civil war. He was appointed as prime minister in August 2024.
The United States and Israel began their air and naval campaign against the Houthis in response to the rebels’ missile and drone attacks on Israel and on ships in the Red Sea.
The US and Israeli strikes killed dozens of people in Yemen. One US strike in April hit a prison holding African migrants in northern Sadaa province, killing at least 68 people and wounding 47 others.
Ahmed Nagi, a senior Yemen analyst with the Crisis Group International, a Brussels-based think tank, called the killing of the Houthi prime minister a “serious setback” for the rebels.
He said it marks an Israeli shift from striking the rebels’ infrastructure to targeting their leaders, including senior military figures, which “poses a greater threat to their command structure.”
In May, the Trump administration announced a deal with the Houthis to end the air strikes in return for an end to attacks on shipping. The rebels, however, said the agreement did not include halting attacks on targets it believed were aligned with Israel.
Additional reporting by Associated Press


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Middle East

Yemen’s Houthi PM among officials killed in Israeli strike

Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed Al-Rahawi in Sanaa, Yemen in August 2024. Al-Rahawi was killed on Thursday following Israeli airstrikes in Sanaa, the Houthis confirmed on Saturday. Photo: EPA

Houthi fighters participate in a protest against Israel in Sanaa, Yemen, on Friday. Photo: EPA

Israeli strikes on Yemeni capital Sanaa kill 6, wound dozens

Smoke billows following Israeli airstrikes in multiple areas in Sanaa, Yemen on Sunday. Photo: AP

People ride a motorcycle as smoke billows following Israeli strikes in Sanaa, Yemen on Sunday. Photo: AP

Israel to slow or stop aid into parts of Gaza soon as offensive expands

Palestinian women and children wait to receive food from a charity kitchen in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Palestinians fleeing south along a road through a camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday. Photo: AFP

A boy at a collapsed building following a bombardment on a camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday. Photo: AFP

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News

World

Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi was the most senior Houthi official killed by Israel so far in its campaign against the Iran-backed rebels


Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi was the most senior Houthi official killed by Israel so far in its campaign against the Iran-backed rebels.


Yemen’s Houthi PM among officials killed in Israeli strike

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi was the most senior Houthi official killed by Israel so far in its campaign against the Iran-backed rebels

Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi was the most senior Houthi official killed by Israel so far in its campaign against the Iran-backed rebels