Yemen’s Houthis on Saturday confirmed the death of their Prime Minister, Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi, in an Israeli airstrike earlier this week, vowing revenge.
Al-Rahawi is the most senior Houthi official assassinated amid a ramped-up campaign by Israel against the Iranian-backed Yemeni group in response to its drone and missile attacks against Israel and ships in the Red Sea.
Houthis Vow Revenge
After confirming the death of their Prime Minister, Ahmed al-Rahawi, in an Israeli airstrike on the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Thursday, the Houthis vowed to take revenge, reported CNN.
“We promise to God, to the dear Yemeni people and the families of the martyrs and wounded that we will take revenge and we will turn the wounds into a victory,” the head of the Houthis’ Supreme Political Council, Mahdi al-Mashat, said in a video statement.
Furthermore, the Houthi Defense Minister, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Nasser al-Atifi, delivered a similar message after the announcement, saying that the group are ready “at all levels to confront the US-backed Zionist enemy,” according to a statement carried on Houthi-run television.
Assassination of Houthis PM
According to the Houthis statement, Israel targeted al-Rahawi, along with other ministers and officials, during “a routine workshop held by the government to evaluate its activity and performance over the past year.”
The Israeli airstrike reportedly took place as top Houthi officials were gathering to watch a speech for the group’s leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, in which he was sharing updates on the latest developments in Gaza and vowing retaliation against Israel, according to the Associated Press (AP).
Al-Rahawi is the most senior Houthi official that Israel killed in its campaign against the Yemeni group. As a prime minister, al-Rahawi managed day-to-day civilian affairs in Sanaa and other areas under Houthi control. He was not part of the inner circle around the group’s leader, which runs the military and strategic affairs.
Israeli Confirmation
The Israeli military announced on Thursday that it “precisely struck a Houthi terrorist regime military target in the area of Sanaa in Yemen.” Then, on Saturday, the Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, confirmed the assassination strike, saying that the Israeli military had struck an “unprecedented knockout blow” to Houthi leadership.
The Israeli military said it had killed al-Rahawi “along with additional senior officials,” who were responsible for “terror actions” against Israel. “The Houthi Prime Minister, most of his ministers, and other senior officials were eliminated and injured. I warned that after the ‘plague of darkness’ would come the ‘plague of the firstborn’ — and now we have carried out that warning,” Katz said.
Israel Campaign against Houthis
The Houthis have been targeting Israel and ships in the Red Sea with drones and missiles in response to the war in Gaza and in solidarity with the Palestinians. In response, the US and Israel launched an air and naval campaign against the Iranian-backed group in order to destroy its infrastructure and pressure it to halt its attacks.
The US President, Donald Trump, announced in May a truce with the Houthis to end US airstrikes in exchange for stopping attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. However, the Houthis said that the deal did not involve targets aligned with Israel.
The assassination of al-Rahawi marks a shift in Israel’s strategy from attacking the group’s infrastructure to targeting its leadership – a strategy it used to eliminate Hamas’ senior leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh, Yehia Sinwar and Mohamed Sinwar, as well as Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
In December 2024, Katz threatened that Israel will similarly target Houthi leadership. “We will hit the strategic infrastructures of the Houthi terrorist organization and we will behead its leaders – just like we did to Haniyeh, Sinwar, and Nasrallah – in Tehran, Gaza, and Lebanon. This is what we will do in Hodeida and Sanaa as well,” he said.
