An Israeli airstrike killed the prime minister of the Houthi rebel-controlled government in Yemen's capital Sanaa, the Houthis said Saturday, August 30. He was the most senior Houthi official killed in the Israeli-US campaign against the Iranian-backed rebels.
Ahmed al-Rahawi was killed in a Thursday strike in Sanaa along with a number of ministers, the rebels said in a statement. Other ministers and officials were wounded, the statement added without providing further details.
The premier 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 Houthi statement said.
Thursday's Israeli strike took place as the rebel-owned television station was broadcasting a speech by Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the secretive leader of the rebel group in which he was sharing updates on the latest Gaza developments and vowing retaliation against Israel. Senior Houthi officials used to gather to watch al-Houthi's prerecorded speeches.
The strike that killed the prime minister targeted a meeting for Houthi leaders in a villa in Beit Baws, an ancient village in southern Sanaa, three tribal leaders told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared repercussions.
On Thursday, the Israeli military said that it "precisely struck a Houthi terrorist regime military target in the area of Sanaa in Yemen." The military had no immediate comment on Saturday's announcement of the prime minister's killing.
"Yemen endures a lot for the victory of the Palestinian people," al-Rahawi said, following an Israeli strike last week that struck an oil facility owned by the country’s main oil company, which is controlled by the rebels in Sanaa as well as a power plant.
Shortly after the announcement, the Houthis appointed al-Rahawi's deputy, Mohamed Moftah, as acting prime minister. Houthi-backed President Mahdi al-Mashat, meanwhile, vowed in a televised speech to escalate the rebels' attacks against Israel. "Dark days are awaiting you, thanks to the actions of your treacherous and dirty government," he said, addressing the Israeli people.
The August 24 strike came three days after the Houthis launched a ballistic missile toward Israel that its military described as the first cluster bomb the rebels had launched at it since 2023.
The prime minister hailed from the southern province of Abyan, and 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 center of the country in 2014, initiating the country's long-running civil war. He was appointed as prime minister in August 2024.