AP / August 31, 2025
Ahmed al-Rahawi killed alongside several ministers gathered for prerecorded speech by rebel group’s leader.
An Israeli airstrike killed the prime minister of the Houthi rebel-controlled government in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, the Houthis have said.
Ahmed al-Rahawi was killed in a strike in Sana’a on Thursday along with a number of ministers, the rebels said in a statement on Saturday. Other ministers and officials were wounded, the statement added without providing further details.
The head of the group’s supreme political council, Mahdi al-Mashat, said: “We promise to God, to the dear Yemeni people and the families of the martyrs and wounded that we will take revenge.”
He warned foreign companies to leave Israel “before it’s too late”.
The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said on Saturday that the strike was “a crushing blow” against the Houthis, adding that “this is only the beginning”.
Israel said on Friday the airstrike had targeted the Iran-aligned group’s chief of staff, defence minister and other senior officials, and that it was verifying the outcome.
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 Sana’a, three tribal leaders told the Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared repercussions.
“Yemen endures a lot for the victory of the Palestinian people,” Al-Rahawi said after an Israeli strike last week on an oil facility owned by the country’s main oil company, which is controlled by the rebels in Sana’a, as well as a power plant.
On 22 August the Houthis had 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 the former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh. He allied himself with the Houthis when the rebels overran Sana’a 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.
Al-Rahawi is the most senior Houthi official to be killed since the US and Israel began their air and naval campaign 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. One US strike in April hit a prison holding African migrants in the 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 thinktank, called the killing of the Houthi prime minister a “serious setback” for the rebels.
He said the escalation 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”.
The Houthis launched a campaign targeting ships in response to the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, saying they were doing so in solidarity with the Palestinians. Their attacks over the past two years have upended shipping in the Red Sea, through which about $1tn of goods pass each year.
In May, the Trump administration announced a deal with the Houthis to end the airstrikes 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.
__________
Yemen’s Houthi rebel group confirm their prime minister has been killed in Israeli airstrikes
Bryony Gooch
The Independent / August 31, 2025
A number of Houthi ministers were also killed in the airstrike, although they have not been named yet
The prime minister of Yemen’s Houthi government, Ahmad Ghaleb al-Rahawi, has been killed in an Israeli strike, according to a news agency run by the group.
Several other ministers were killed in the strike, according to the Houthi-run agency, though they were not named.
Israel said on Friday that the airstrike had targeted the Iran-aligned group’s chief of staff, defence minister and other senior officials and that it was verifying the outcome.
A statement was released from defence minister Mohamed al-Atifi, shortly after the prime minister’s death was confirmed, which quoted him as saying the group was ready to confront Israel.
Saudi Arabian news site Al-Hadath has reported that the Houthis’ foreign minister, as well as the ministers for justice, youth and sports, social affairs and labour, were killed.
The office of Mahdi al-Mashat, the Houthi president, said that several other ministers “sustained moderate and serious injuries” as a result of the strike, according to the BBC.
An IDF spokesperson told The Independent that the strike “was made possible by seizing an intelligence opportunity and completing a rapid operational cycle, which took place within a few hours”.
They confirmed that the Houthi prime minister was killed in the strike, alongside other senior officials who they said were “responsible for the use of force, the military building of the Houthi terror regime, and the advancement of terror actions against Israel”.
Rahawi became prime minister nearly a year ago but the de facto leader of the government was his deputy, Mohamed Moftah, who was assigned on Saturday to carry out the prime minister’s duties. He was seen largely as a figurehead who was not part of the inner circle of the Houthi leadership.
Formerly an ally to ex-Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, Rahawi allied himself with the Houthis when the rebels overran Sana’a, and much of the north and centre of the country in 2014, initiating the country’s long-running civil war.
The Israeli military said its fighter jets had struck a compound in the Sana’a area where senior Houthi figures had gathered, describing the attack as a “complex operation” made possible by intelligence-gathering and air superiority.
On Thursday, Israeli security sources had said the targets had been various locations where a large number of senior Houthi officials had gathered to watch a televised speech recorded by leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi.
Since Israel began its war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis – who are aligned with Iran – have attacked vessels in the Red Sea in acts they have described as solidarity with the Palestinians.
They have also frequently fired missiles towards Israel, most of which have been intercepted. Israel has responded with strikes on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, including the vital Hodeidah port.
The US and Israeli strikes have 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.
During the last year, Israel carried out a series of assassinations of the top leaders and commanders of Hamas and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah that significantly weakened the two groups.
“We remain steadfast in our genuine position of supporting and standing with the people of Gaza, and in building and developing the capabilities of our armed forces to confront all challenges and dangers,” Mahdi al-Mashat’s statement said.
Bryony Gooch is a general news reporter covering home news and global affairs at The Independent
