The Houthis said on 30 August an Israeli-strike killed the prime minister of the rebel-controlled government in Yemen’s capital Sanaa. Ahmed al-Rahawi is the most senior official of the Iranian-backed Houthi Group.
A number of ministers were also killed, and other ministers and officials were wounded, said a Houthi source, adding that the premier was targeted along with other members of Houthi government during a routine workshop held by the government to evaluate its activities and performance over the past year.
Israeli strike on 28 August, occurred as Houthi TV station was broadcasting a speech for Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the secretive leader of the rebel group where 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 pre-recorded speeches.
The Israeli military said it “precisely struck a Houthi terrorist regime military target in the area of Sanaa in Yemen.” The strikes came after Houthis launched a ballistic missile towards Israel which its military described as the first “cluster bomb” the rebels had launched at it since 2023.
Ahmed al-Rahawi hailed from 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, leading to the country’s long-running civil war. He was appointed prime minister in August 2024. His killing represents a serious setback for the rebels.
The Israeli tactics seems to be shifting from striking rebel infrastructure to targeting their leaders and senior military commanders and disrupt their command-and-control structure.
The Houthis launched a campaign targeting ships in response to the war in Gaza in solidarity with Hamas. Their attacks over the past two years have disrupted shipping in the Red Sea, through which about one trillion dollars of goods passes each year.
In May, the Trump administration announced a deal with the Houthis to end the air strikes in return for an end to Houthi attacks on shipping. The rebels, however, said the agreement did not include targets it believed were aligned with Israel.
The conflict in Middle East continues with no end in sight.