Yemeni media outlets aligned with opponents of the Houthi rebels reported early Friday morning that Ahmed al-Rahawi, the Houthi-backed Prime Minister, was eliminated in an IDF strike on the city of Sanaa on Thursday.
The Yemeni channel Al-Jumhuriya, which broadcasts from Aden, cited sources who reported that al-Rahawi was killed while in an apartment in the Bayt Baws neighborhood of Sanaa. The newspaper Aden al-Ghad also reported that he was killed along with several of his associates.
Al-Rahawi had served for about a year as Prime Minister under the Houthi administration, which lacks international recognition. His role was primarily administrative, rather than military or political.
Meanwhile, the Yemeni security-focused website Defence Line reported that there are indications that senior officials in the Houthi government were also eliminated in a strike on a building in a security complex adjacent to the presidential palace compound in Sanaa, which was one of the targets attacked.
Thursday’s Israel Air Force strikes in Sanaa were conducted during an address by Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.
A security official said the primary target was a gathering of senior members of the organization, described as a sort of cabinet meeting attended by both military leaders and Houthi ministers. The official added, “We estimate that we succeeded.”
Israel believes that among those eliminated in the strike were the Houthi Defense Minister and Chief of Staff, the latter of whom had previously been wounded in an earlier attack attributed to Israel. However, the group’s leader was apparently not present at the site.
The IDF confirmed that it struck a Houthi terrorist regime military target in the area of Sanaa in Yemen.
Defense Minister Israel Katz, together with IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir and the senior IDF command spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and approved the IDF strike in Yemen.
Katz stated: “As we warned the Houthis in Yemen, after the Plague of Darkness comes the Plague of the Firstborn. Whoever raises a hand against Israel - his hand will be cut off.”