Israeli strikes believed to have eliminated broad swathe of Houthi high command

The terror group's Prime Minister, Defence Minister and Chief of General Staff all believed to have been targeted

Israeli strikes against the Houthi terrorist group in Yemen have reportedly eliminated a number of its most senior leaders, including its Prime Minister, Defence Minister and Chief of Staff.

The Israeli air force targeted a number of key locations in the capital city of Sanaa on Thursday, including an apartment where Ahmed al-Rahawi, serving as the Houthi’s Prime Minister, was believed to be present. Another strike reportedly targeted a number of Houthi Ministers who were gathered together to watch a speech from the terrorist organisation’s leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi. Among those rumoured to have been killed are the group’s Defence Minister, Major General Mohamed al-Atifi, and its Chief of General Staff, Major General Muhammad Abd al-Karim al-Ghamari.

Newspapers in Yemen have reported al-Rahawi’s death, while Israeli news outlets have stated that there is “growing confidence” in senior Israeli military circles that almost the entire senior military and political leadership of the Houthis has been wiped out.

Backed by the Iranian regime, the Houthis are one of the key groups operating as part of Yemen’s ongoing civil war; they control most of the country’s Western region, including its capital city and most of its access to the Red Sea. In the last few years the group has repeatedly targeted Israel via drone and missile attacks, as well as attacking international shipping, ostensibly in support of the Palestinian cause. The group’s slogan and emblem translates as “God is the greatest, Death to America, Death to Israel, A curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam”. The group is the last remaining piece of the Iranian regime’s ‘Axis of Resistance’, with both Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon having been decimated in the last 22 months, while the Iranian-backed Assad regime in Syria crumbled last December.

Defence Minister Israel Katz posted a picture of himself monitoring the situation alongside IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and the Commander of the IAF, Tomer Bar, saying “As we warned the Houthis in Yemen: after the plague of darkness comes the plague of the firstborn. Whoever raises a hand against Israel – their hand will be cut off.”