Yemen's Houthi rebel movement has confirmed that its self-proclaimed Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi was killed in Israeli air strikes earlier this week.
The Iran-backed group stated that several other senior officials were killed when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) targeted Yemen's capital, Sanaa, on Thursday.
The IDF claimed that it attacked a Houthi military target in the Sanaa area, offering no further details.
The Houthis have maintained control over much of north-western Yemen since 2014, after ousting the internationally recognised government from Sanaa and igniting a devastating civil war.
In addition to Rahawi, reports from Saudi Arabian news site Al-Hadath indicate that the Houthi foreign minister, as well as the ministers for justice, youth and sports, social affairs, and labour, were also killed in the airstrike.
The office of Mahdi Al-Mashat, the Houthis' president, reported that several other ministers sustained both moderate and serious injuries from the strike.
Muhammad Ahmed Miftah, the Houthi deputy prime minister, is expected to take over Rahawi's responsibilities.
Rahawi had served in his position since August 2024.
As of now, the IDF has not publicly commented on the latest developments.
Since the onset of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis have regularly launched missiles at Israel and attacked commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, framing these actions as solidarity with the Palestinians.
Israel has responded with air strikes on Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen. Earlier this month, Israel stated it had carried out air strikes on Houthi targets in Sanaa following a missile attack attributed to the Houthis, which Israel claimed involved cluster munitions.
