Israeli airstrike kills Houthi rebel prime minister in Yemeni capital Sanaa

CAIRO AP An Israeli airstrike killed the prime minister of the Houthi rebel-controlled executive in Yemen s capital Sanaa the Houthis revealed Saturday He was the majority senior Houthi official killed in the Israeli-U S campaign against the Iranian-backed rebels Ahmed al-Rahawi was killed in a Thursday strike in Sanaa along with a number of ministers the rebels declared in a comment Other ministers and agents were wounded the message added without providing further details The premier was targeted along with other members of his Houthi-controlled regime during a routine workshop held by the ruling body to evaluate its engagements and performance over the past year the Houthi announcement explained Thursday s Israeli strike took place as the rebel-owned television station was broadcasting a speech by Abdul Malik al-Houthi the secretive leader of the rebel group in which he was sharing updates on the latest Gaza developments and vowing retaliation against Israel Senior Houthi representatives used to gather to watch al-Houthi s prerecorded speeches The strike that killed the prime minister targeted a meeting for Houthi leaders in a villa in Beit Baws an ancient village in southern Sanaa three tribal leaders described The Associated Press They spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared repercussions On Thursday the Israeli military mentioned that it precisely struck a Houthi terrorist regime military target in the area of Sanaa in Yemen The military had no immediate comment on Saturday s announcement of the prime minister s killing Yemen endures a lot for the domination of the Palestinian people al-Rahawi commented following an Israeli strike last week that struck an oil facility owned by the country s main oil company which is controlled by the rebels in Sanaa as well as a power plant The Aug strike came three days after the Houthis launched a ballistic missile toward Israel that its military described as the first cluster bomb the rebels had launched at it since The 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 rebels overran Sanaa and much of the north and center of the country in initiating the country s long-running civil war He was appointed as prime minister in August Al-Rahawi is the the greater part senior Houthi official to be killed since the United States and Israel began their air and naval campaign in response to the rebels missile and drone attacks on Israel and on ships in the Red Sea The U S and Israeli strikes killed dozens of people One U S strike in April hit a prison holding African expatriates in the northern Sadaa province killing at least people and wounding others Ahmed Nagi a senior Yemen analyst with the Predicament Group International a Brussels-based think-tank called the killing of the Houthi prime minister a serious setback for the rebels He announced the escalation marks an Israeli shift from striking the rebels infrastructure to targeting their leaders including senior military figures which poses a greater threat to their command structure The Houthis launched a campaign targeting ships in response to the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip saying they were doing so in solidarity with the Palestinians Their attacks over the past two years have upended shipping in the Red Sea through which about trillion of goods pass each year In May the Trump administration publicized a deal with the Houthis to end the airstrikes in return for an end to attacks on shipping The rebels however explained the agreement did not include halting attacks on targets it inferred were aligned with Israel