UPDATE 2 - Houthi prime minister killed in Israeli strike on Yemeni capital

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS

By Rania Abu Shamala

ISTANBUL (AA) - Yemen’s Houthi group confirmed Saturday that the prime minister of its government was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the capital Sanaa.

In a statement, the Houthis said Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb al-Rahawi and a number of ministers were killed in the attack that targeted Sanaa on Thursday.

Several other ministers were also injured in the strike, it added.

The head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, Mahdi al-Mashat, mourned Rahawi and other ministers “who were martyred after being targeted by the treacherous Israeli enemy during a meeting on Thursday.”

He, however, did not disclose the names of the slain ministers or their number.

The Houthi leader said his forces “remain in a position of strength, and what the enemy achieved was nothing more than a stroke of luck.”

The Israeli army said Thursday that it “precisely” hit a Houthi military target in Sanaa, with Israeli media suggesting that the entire Houthi Cabinet was eliminated in the attack.

Houthi Chief of Staff Muhammad Abdul Karim Al-Ghamari said Friday that Israel's attacks on Yemen's capital of Sanaa "will not go unpunished.”

Following Thursday’s attack, the Houthi group vowed to continue its attacks against Israeli targets in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Since November 2023, the Houthis have launched missile and drone strikes on Israeli targets and targeted commercial shipping in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where nearly 63,400 people have been killed in an Israeli genocidal war.