Israel

CAIRO-The Houthis said on Saturday that an Israeli air strike killed the Houthi-controlled government Prime Minister in the capital of Yemen. He was the oldest Houthi officials who were killed in the Israeli -American campaign against the Iranian rebels.

The rebels said in a statement that Ahmed Al -Rahwi was killed in a strike on Thursday in SANA with a number of ministers. The statement added without providing more details.

The Houthi statement said that the Prime Minister was targeting, along with other members of his Houthi government, during a “routine workshop held by the government to evaluate its activities and performance during the past year.”

The Israeli strike took place on Thursday, when the rebel -owned television station was broadcasting a letter delivered by Abdul Malik Al -Houthi, the secret leader of the rebel group, in which he was participating in updates on the latest Gaza developments and pledged revenge on Israel. Senior Houthi officials used to gather to see Houthi speeches in advance.

Al -Rahawi was not part of the internal circle around Abdul Malik Al -Houthi, who manages the group’s military and strategic affairs. His previous government was charged with the Department of Daily Civil Affairs in SANA and other Houthi -controlled areas.

Three tribal leaders told Associated Press that the strike that killed the Prime Minister targeted a meeting with the Houthi leaders in a villa in Beit Boss, an ancient village in southern SANA, three tribal leaders at Associated Press said. They spoke on the condition that his identity is not disclosed because they fear the repercussions.

On Thursday, the Israeli army said it “strictly hit a military target for the Houthi terrorist in the SANA area in Yemen.” The army had no immediate comment on Saturday’s announcement of the killing of the Prime Minister.

Al -Rahawi said after an Israeli strike last week, which led to a strike of an oil facility owned by the country’s main oil company, which is controlled by the rebels in SANA, in addition to the rebel -controlled power plant in SANA, in addition to the power plant.

The strike came on August 24, three days after the Houthis launched a ballistic missile towards Israel, which its army described as the first bomb group launched by the rebels since 2023.

The Prime Minister witnessed the southern province of Abyan, and he was an ally of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. He allied with the Houthis when the rebels exceeded SANA, many from the north and in the center of the country in 2014, and began in the long civil war in the country. He was appointed as Prime Minister in August 2024.

Al -Rahwi is the oldest Houthi officials who have been killed since the United States and Israel began its air and naval campaign in response to missile attacks and rebels against Israel and ships in the Red Sea. The United States and Israeli killed dozens of people. In April, one of the American strikes struck a prison holding African immigrants in the Northern Sada province, killing at least 68 people and wounding 47 others.

Ahmed Nagy, a senior analyst in Yemen in the International Crisis Group, a Brussels -based research center, launched the killing of the Houthi Prime Minister as a “serious setback” for the rebels.

He said that the escalation represents an Israeli shift from hitting the rebel infrastructure to targeting their leaders, including the higher military figures, which “pose a greater threat to the structure of their leadership.”

The Houthis launched a campaign targeting ships in response to the Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, saying they were doing this in solidarity with the Palestinians. Their attacks over the past two years have lifted shipping in the Red Sea, through which about a trillion dollars of goods pass every year.

In May, the Trump administration announced a deal with the Houthis to end the air strikes in exchange for ending the attacks. However, the rebels said that the agreement does not include stopping attacks on the targets believed to be compatible with Israel.