Israeli air strike takes out Yemen’s Houthi prime minister

Yemen’s Houthi government has confirmed that an Israeli air strike killed its prime minister and members of his cabinet, as the Iran-backed group vowed to continue its “open war” with Israel until the war in Gaza ends.

The head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, Mahdi al-Mashat, said on Saturday (Yemen time) that prime minister Ahmed Ghalib al-Rahwi and a number of his ministers were killed in the air strike on Thursday, while others were wounded.

Israeli Defence Minister, Israel Katz, said on Saturday the strike was “a crushing blow” against the Houthis, adding that “this is only the beginning”.

The Israel Defence Forces said on Thursday it “precisely struck” a Houthi military target in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, after UAVs were launched from Yemen toward Israel. On Friday the Israeli government said the airstrike targeted the Iran-aligned group’s chief of staff, defence minister and other senior officials and that it was verifying the outcome.

Sources confirmed to Reuters that the energy, foreign and information ministers were among those killed. Mashat’s statement did not make clear whether the Houthi defence minister was among the casualties.

The strike continues Israel’s campaign of political assassinations over the past year. It has also killed senior leaders and commanders of Hamas and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, significantly weakening both groups.

Since Israel began its war in Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, the Iran-aligned Houthis have attacked vessels in the Red Sea and frequently fired missiles towards Israel. Israel has responded with strikes on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, including the vital Hodeidah port.

The Houthis have described their attacks as acts of solidarity with the Palestinians, and said they would continue until the war in Gaza ends. The Houthi government statement, released after the prime minister’s death, described itself as being “in open war” with Israel and said it would “continue to build up our military and develop its capabilities to face all challenges and threats”.

Israeli and US forces have intercepted most — though not all — of the missiles and drones that have come from Yemen. A Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv in July 2024, which didn’t trigger any warning alerts, underscored Israel’s vulnerability to incoming drones.

After an intense bombing campaign by the US and Israel earlier this year, the Houthis reached a ceasefire with Washington. However, the Yemen-based militia continued to launch missiles and drones towards Israel, which in return retaliated by striking key energy infrastructure, ports and other Houthi-associated targets.

Rahwi was appointed as prime minister a year ago, but was seen largely as a figurehead who was not part of the inner circle of the Houthi leadership. The de facto leader of the government was his deputy, Mohammed Ahmed Muftah, who is now acting prime minister.

Yemen has been split between a Houthi administration in Sanaa and a Saudi-backed government in Aden since 2014.

The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, are a proscribed terrorist organisation in Australia.

Separately, protests against the war in Gaza have targeted cultural events in the West over the weekend, including the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in London and a star-studded film festival in Venice attended by Julia Roberts, George Clooney and Emma Stone.

Thousands marched on Saturday (Venice time) to protest Gaza and piggyback off the hoopla surrounding the 82nd Venice International Film Festival.

The New York Times and other media outlets reported that crowds gathered on the Lido barrier island for a march from the Piazza Santa Maria Elisabetta toward the Palazzo del Cinema.

The protest was coordinated by Venice4Palestine – an organisation of Italian and international film professionals – which last weekend issued an open letter with hundreds of signatories demanding that the festival condemn the destruction and suffering caused by Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

“Stop the clocks, turn off the stars,” says the letter, reported initially by news outlets covering the film industry such as Deadline and Variety.

“The burden is too much to carry on living as before. For almost two years now, images of unmistakable clarity have been reaching us from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Incredulous and helpless, we keep witnessing the torment of a genocide carried out live by the State of Israel in Palestine. No one will ever be able to say: ‘I couldn’t know, I couldn’t imagine, I couldn’t believe’.”

The Venice Biennale, which organises the film festival, said in a statement it was open to discussing issues and screened films about Gaza both this year and last year.

With Bloomberg, Reuters

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