Yemen's Houthi rebel movement has confirmed that its self-proclaimed Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi was killed in Israeli air strikes earlier this week.
The Iran-backed group stated that several other senior officials perished when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) targeted Yemen's capital, Sanaa, on Thursday.
The IDF said at the time that it attacked a Houthi 'military target' in the Sanaa area without providing further details.
The Houthis have controlled much of north-western Yemen since 2014, following the ousting of the internationally recognized government from Sanaa and the onset of a devastating civil war.
The Houthis disclosed that Rahawi was killed along with several of their ministers; however, they did not identify the others. Reports from Saudi Arabian news site Al-Hadath claim that the foreign minister, and the ministers for justice, youth and sports, social affairs, and labor were among the casualties.
The office of Mahdi Al-Mashat, the Houthis' president, noted that several other ministers 'sustained moderate and serious injuries' from the strike.
In the wake of Rahawi's death, the Houthis announced that Muhammad Ahmed Miftah, the Houthi deputy prime minister, would assume his responsibilities. Rahawi had been in his position since August 2024.
The IDF has not yet publicly commented on the recent developments.
Since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis have frequently launched missiles at Israel and engaged in attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, asserting they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Israel, in retaliation, has executed air strikes targeting areas controlled by the Houthis in Yemen. Earlier this month, Israel carried out air strikes in response to a Houthi missile attack, which the Israeli military claimed involved cluster munitions.
