Houthis confirm prime minister killed in Israeli airstrike

Peloni:  Osint0613 reports that the Minister of Welfare, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Economy, Minister of Justice, Minister of Information, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Government Secretary, and Government Chief of Staff are among the dead while the Minister of Defense & the Chief of Staff were additionally wounded.

IDF says ‘narrow intelligence window’ enabled strike on Houthi leaders

Image via Youtube [Cropped]

The prime minister of Yemen’s Houthi government, Ahmad Ghaleb al-Rahwi, and several other ministers were killed in an Israeli strike on the capital Sanaa, the head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council said on Saturday, in the first such attack to kill senior officials.

A number of others were wounded in Thursday’s strike, Mahdi al-Mashat added, without providing details.

The Israeli military confirmed on Friday that thestrike on Houthi leaders that took place on Thursday was a result of a “narrow intelligence window.”

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) targeted top Houthi leaders outside the Yemeni capital Sanaa, including Chief of Staff Mohammed Abd al-Karim al-Ghamari, Defense Minister Mohammed al-Atefi, Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed Galib al-Rahwi and other top officials.

Mashat’s statement did not make clear whether the Houthi defense minister was among the casualties.

Ahmad Ghaleb al-Rahwi became prime minister around 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.

Rahwi was seen largely as a figurehead who was not part of the inner circle of the Houthi leadership.

The Israeli operation, codenamed “Drop of Luck,” was launched after Israel obtained credible, real-time intelligence on the whereabouts of senior Houthi leaders. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir authorized the strike following consultations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The attack coincided with a televised speech by Houthi leader Abdul-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, which the targeted officials had gathered to watch.

Israeli intelligence is cautiously optimistic but still assessing the outcome of the strikes. Houthi leader Mahdi al-Mashat confirmed on Saturday that the prime minister and several other unnamed senior officials were killed in the Israeli airstrike.

“We announce the martyrdom of the fighter Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser Al-Rahawi… along with several of his ministerial colleagues, as they were targeted by the treacherous Israeli criminal enemy,” al-Mashat stated.

Local residents in Yemen’s capital described the strike as powerful explosions. One unnamed resident said it “felt as if it came from underground.”

Unlike its precise intelligence on the whereabouts of top Hezbollah and Iranian leaders, until recently, Israel had limited intelligence on senior Houthi leaders. However, continued Houthi attacks on Israel eventually prompted Israeli intelligence to invest more effort and resources into acquiring real-time data on Houthi leaders.

The Houthi chief al-Ghamari reportedly survived an Israeli assassination attempt in June but was seriously injured.

Backed by the Iranian regime, the Houthis have launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel since October 2023. While the group claims its actions are carried out in solidarity with Hamas and Gaza, its motives mirror those of Iran, openly calling for Israel’s destruction. The Houthis’ slogan declares: “God is the Greatest, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse be upon the Jews, Victory to Islam.”

The Houthis have also targeted numerous international commercial vessels in the strategically vital Red Sea, a trade corridor through which goods worth an estimated $1 trillion pass each year.

In July, the Houthis threatened to resume attacks on all vessels commercially linked to Israel.

“The Yemeni Armed Forces call on all countries, if they want to avoid this escalation, to pressure the enemy to halt its aggression and lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip,” a Houthi spokesperson threatened.

Houthi attacks on commercial ships have significantly undermined global trade routes between Asia and Western nations.

With Hamas and Hezbollah significantly weakened in the ongoing war with Israel, the Houthis remain the Iranian regime’s most active proxy in the region. Nevertheless, their missile attacks have had only a limited effect on Israel’s security and daily life.

August 31, 2025 | 1 Comment »

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  1. The Prime Minister of Israel [on FB:] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today at the start of the Government meeting:

    “These are days of great achievements, but they are also very challenging.

    In an ISA and IDF operation, we succeeded in returning to Israel for Jewish burial two of our deceased hostages – Idan Shtivi and Ilan Weiss, may their memories be blessed.

    They are both heroes. They both acted to try to rescue and save others. Shtivi was at Nova, and he acted. He could have saved himself but he went ahead and rescued people, and returned and rescued more, and was then shot in the back.

    Ilan Weiss was 56. He left his home the morning of the awful attack; he was a member of the emergency squad. He ran to the armory. Tried to retrieve weapons – and was murdered there.

    Their bodies were abducted to Gaza. We have been engaged in a months-long effort to bring them back, and it has been successful.

    Yesterday I spoke with their families and conveyed our condolences on behalf of the Government of Israel and the people of Israel.

    This operation expresses our commitment to bringing back all of our hostages. I remind you that as of today, we have brought back 207, including 148 alive. We will bring them all back, the living and the deceased.

    The Security Cabinet decided on the issue: Defeating Hamas and releasing all of our hostages, in a major effort, and the IDF has already started to carry out this decision.

    I would like to express my appreciation to the reservist and conscript soldiers who are preparing for this release and defeat mission.

    In an additional joint mission, the ISA and the IDF attacked the Hamas spokesman, the spokesman for an evil and murderous organization, Abu Obeida. We still do not know the final result. While I hope that he is no longer with us, I note that there is no spokesperson to report on this from the Hamas side. The upcoming hours and days will certainly tell what they will.

    For some time, I have been promising you, as well as the citizens of Israel, that the Houthis will pay a heavy price for their aggression against the State of Israel. Last Thursday, I ordered the IDF to attack their terrorist government in Yemen.

    The Air Force attacked a gathering of senior terrorist regime figures in Sanaa. At that time, they were expecting a speech by Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi, who would promise in every such speech that he would strike Israel and destroy Israel. They inscribed this on their flag.

    This promise has not been realized; however, our promise to vigorously strike this terrorist regime has been realized in a significant way.

    In a lethal strike, the IDF eliminated most of the Houthi government and additional senior military officials.

    I remind you that an entire coalition of countries has acted against them. But we did what nobody else has done before us, and this is only the beginning of striking senior figures in Sanaa, we will reach them all.

    I remind you of one other thing: Only two months ago, we struck the head of the snake and carried out an operation that will be noted for generations, for lifting an existential threat from us; again – in a way that no country has done before us. Since then, we have been systematically striking the remnants of this axis, day after day, arena after arena.

    Together we will continue to operate on all fronts and with G-d’s help, together we will continue to win.”

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