Yemen confirms Israeli airstrike assassinated PM, several other ministers
Yemen’s Ansarullah movement confirmed on Saturday that an Israeli air strike had killed the country’s prime minister in the capital, Sana’a.
The movement said in a statement that Ahmed al-Rahawi and a number of ministers were assassinated in a Thursday Israeli strike in Sana’a.
The attack targeted a routine workshop held by the government to evaluate its activities and performance over the past year, the statement said.
Several senior officials also sustained various degrees of injuries in Thursday’s strikes, and are currently receiving medical treatment.
Al-Rahawi, who was appointed last year, is the most senior official known to have been killed in a series of Israeli strikes on Yemen.
The Israeli military in a statement claimed that its forces on Thursday struck an Ansarullah’s military target in Sana’a.
The attack came as tensions between the two sides continue to escalate over the regime’s onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has claimed the lives of more than 62,000 Palestinians.
In response to the escalating genocidal war on Gaza, which began in October 2023, Yemeni forces implemented a strategic maritime blockade aimed at disrupting the supply of military resources to Israel and urging the international community to address the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Simultaneously, they carried out numerous missile and drone strikes against strategic targets within the Israeli-occupied territories in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
The Yemeni Armed Forces have made it clear that they will not halt their operations until Israel ceases its ground and aerial offensives in Gaza.
The group has repeatedly said Israeli attacks on Yemen will not deter their military operations in support of Palestinians.
“The blood of the great martyrs will be fuel and a motivator to continue on the same path,” Yemen’s presidency said in its statement.
“We affirm to our great Yemeni people, to the sons of the oppressed Palestinian people, to all the sons of our nation, and to all the free people in the world, that we are continuing in our original stance in supporting and aiding the sons of Gaza, and building our armed forces and developing their capabilities to confront all challenges and dangers, as is the stance of our great Yemeni people, present in all fields and arenas with all determination, will, and faith.”