Al-Rahawi was killed on Thursday alongside several ministers during a meeting in southern Sanaa…reports Asian Lite News
The Houthis announced on Saturday that an Israeli airstrike killed Ahmed Al-Rahawi, the prime minister of their militant-run administration in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. He is the most senior Houthi political figure confirmed dead since Israel and the United States launched their joint campaign against the Iran-backed movement.
According to a Houthi statement, Al-Rahawi was killed on Thursday alongside several ministers during a meeting in southern Sanaa. Other senior figures were wounded, though the group did not provide further details.
The strike reportedly hit a villa in Beit Baws, an ancient district of the capital, where Houthi leaders had gathered for what the group described as a “routine workshop” reviewing government performance. Three tribal leaders, speaking anonymously for fear of reprisals, confirmed the meeting’s location to the Associated Press.
At the time of the strike, the Houthis’ television network was airing a speech from Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, the movement’s elusive leader. His pre-recorded addresses are regularly shown to senior officials, who typically assemble to watch them together.
While Al-Rahawi was not considered part of the inner circle handling military and strategic planning, he was a significant civilian figure. His administration, like previous Houthi governments, was tasked with overseeing day-to-day governance across rebel-held areas of northern and central Yemen.
Israel’s military later confirmed the strike, saying it had “precisely struck a Houthi terrorist regime military target in the area of Sanaa.” In a follow-up statement, it acknowledged Al-Rahawi was among those killed, along with “additional senior officials” responsible for planning “terror actions” against Israel.
Al-Rahawi, who hailed from Yemen’s southern Abyan province, had been an ally of late President Ali Abdullah Saleh before siding with the Houthis when they captured Sanaa in 2014. He was appointed prime minister in August 2024. Just last week, he had condemned Israeli strikes on Houthi-controlled infrastructure, declaring: “Yemen endures a lot for the victory of the Palestinian people.”
The attack came days after the Houthis fired a ballistic missile at Israel, the first time they had deployed a cluster munition against the country since 2023. The Houthis have claimed their missile and drone strikes on Israel, as well as on international shipping in the Red Sea, are acts of solidarity with Gaza.
Their campaign has severely disrupted maritime traffic through one of the world’s busiest trade routes, with nearly $1 trillion worth of goods transiting the Red Sea annually. In response, the United States and Israel have conducted sustained air and naval operations targeting the group’s bases, weapons facilities and infrastructure.
The campaign has caused heavy casualties. A US strike in April hit a detention centre in northern Saada province, killing at least 68 African migrants and wounding 47 more.
Analysts say the killing of Al-Rahawi represents an escalation. Ahmed Nagi, a senior Yemen expert at the International Crisis Group, described the strike as a “serious setback” for the Houthis, signalling a shift from targeting infrastructure to decapitating leadership. Such a change, he said, “poses a greater threat to their command structure.”
Meanwhile, the political picture remains murky. In May, the Trump administration announced it had reached a deal with the Houthis to end airstrikes in exchange for a halt to attacks on shipping. But the rebels insisted their campaign against Israel and its allies would continue, underscoring the limits of any agreement.
With Al-Rahawi’s killing, Israel appears intent on widening its offensive to disrupt Houthi governance as well as its military capabilities, raising fears of further escalation in Yemen’s long-running conflict.
