Israel has killed the Houthi rebel prime minister Ahmed al Rahawi, the Iranian-backed militant group has said.
He was killed on Thursday in a strike on the Yemeni capital Sanaa, along with a number of other ministers, the group said in a statement.
The Houthis have controlled much of northwestern Yemen since 2014 after forcing out the internationally recognised government and starting a civil war. They are backed by Iran and have conducted repeated strikes on shipping in the Red Sea and Israel.
“The criminal, treacherous Israeli enemy targeted them during a routine workshop held by the government to evaluate its activities and performance over the past year,” Houthi president Mahdi al Mashat said in a statement reported by the Yemen News Agency.
Mashat also claimed Israel should expect “dark days” ahead.
The strike took place as a Houthi-owned TV station was broadcasting a speech from the group’s secretive leader Abdul Malik al Houthi, sharing updates on the latest developments in Gaza and vowing retaliation.
Rahawi was not a part of the inner circle around Houthi that runs the military and strategic affairs of the armed group.
His government, like the previous one, was tasked with running the day-to-day civilian affairs in Sanaa and other Houthi-held areas.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said on Friday it had “carried out a significant strike against strategic targets of the Houthi terror regime in Yemen”.
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Israeli reports then suggested that senior officials were at the site.
The strike came three days after the Houthis launched a ballistic missile towards Israel.
Who was Rahawi?
The late rebel prime minister hailed from the southern province of Abyan, and was an ally to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
He allied himself with the Houthis when the group took Sanaa in 2014 and was appointed prime minister in August last year.
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He is the most senior Houthi official to be killed since the US and Israel began their air and naval campaign in response to the group’s attacks on Israel and ships in the Red Sea.
