An Israeli strike in Yemen on Saturday night was a targeted assassination attempt on Houthi military chief of staff Muhammad Al-Ghamari, according to Israeli officials.

The results of the strike were not immediately known, and the IDF did not officially comment on the incident.

Some Hebrew media reports said Al-Ghamari was believed to have been meeting with other Houthi leaders at the time of the strike.

The Ynet news site cited a source in Yemen as saying the strike was directed at his command headquarters. The report said the Houthis set up roadblocks in the area after the incident and that ambulances were called.

It cited the source as saying that Al-Ghamari was trained in Iran, coordinated between the Houthis and Iran, and oversaw the Houthis’ missile program.

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.

They held their fire when a ceasefire was reached between Israel and Hamas in January 2025. By that point, they had fired over 40 ballistic missiles and dozens of attack drones and cruise missiles at Israel, including one that killed a civilian and wounded several others in Tel Aviv in July, prompting Israel’s first strike in Yemen.

Since March 18, when the IDF resumed its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen have launched some 50 ballistic missiles and at least a dozen drones at Israel.