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Head of Yemen's Houthi Government, Some Ministers Killed in Israeli Strike

Smoke billows after Israeli strikes on Hodeidah port, Yemen, July 21, 2024. (Reuters file)
Smoke billows after Israeli strikes on Hodeidah port, Yemen, July 21, 2024. (Reuters file)
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Head of Yemen's Houthi Government, Some Ministers Killed in Israeli Strike

Smoke billows after Israeli strikes on Hodeidah port, Yemen, July 21, 2024. (Reuters file)
Smoke billows after Israeli strikes on Hodeidah port, Yemen, July 21, 2024. (Reuters file)

The prime minister of Yemen's Houthi-run government and several other ministers were killed in an Israeli strike on the capital Sanaa, the head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council said on Saturday, in the first such attack to kill senior officials from the Iran-aligned group. 

A number of others were wounded in Thursday's strike, Mahdi al-Mashat added, without providing details. 

Israel said on Friday that the airstrike had targeted the group's chief of staff, defense minister and other senior officials and that it was verifying the outcome. 

Mashat's statement did not make clear whether the Houthi defence minister was among the casualties. 

Ahmad Ghaleb al-Rahwi was appointed as prime minister a year ago, but the de facto leader of the government was his deputy, Mohammed Miftah, who was assigned on Saturday to carry out the prime minister's duties. 

Rahwi was seen largely as a figurehead who was not part of the inner circle of the Houthi leadership. 

He was an ally to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, whom the Houthis ousted from Sanaa in late 2014 triggering a decade-long civil war, but later joined forces with the group.  

Since Israel's war in Gaza against the Palestinian group Hamas began in October 2023, the Iran-aligned Houthis have attacked vessels in the Red Sea in what they describe as acts of solidarity with the Palestinians. 

They have also frequently fired missiles towards Israel, most of which have been intercepted. Israel has responded with strikes on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, including the vital Hodeidah port. 

During the last year, Israel carried out a series of assassinations targeting senior leaders and commanders of Hamas and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, significantly weakening both groups. 

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that the strike was "a crushing blow" against the Houthis, adding that "this is only the beginning." 

The Houthi-run news agency Saba ran a statement from Defense Minister Mohamed al-Atifi shortly after the prime minister's death was confirmed and quoted him as saying the group was ready to confront Israel. 

The statement did not mention Thursday's airstrike and it was unclear if it was made before or after the attack. 

Atifi runs the Houthis' Missiles Brigade Group and is considered their leading missiles expert. 

Sources confirmed to Reuters that the energy, foreign and information ministers were among those killed. 

On Thursday, Israeli security sources had said the targets had been various locations where a large number of senior Houthi officials had gathered to watch a televised speech recorded by leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi. 

"Our stance remains as it is and will remain until the aggression ends and the siege is lifted, no matter how great the challenges," Mashat said in a televised speech, adding that the group "shall take revenge." 

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Arab World

Israel PM Says Hezbollah Rockets, Drones Need Further Military Action

03 March 2020, Israel, Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers an address. (dpa)
03 March 2020, Israel, Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers an address. (dpa)
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Israel PM Says Hezbollah Rockets, Drones Need Further Military Action

03 March 2020, Israel, Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers an address. (dpa)
03 March 2020, Israel, Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers an address. (dpa)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said rockets and drones possessed by Iran-backed Hezbollah group remained a key threat that demanded further military action by Israel's army in Lebanon. 

Israel and Hezbollah have traded blame over violations of the fragile 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon agreed earlier this month, which has since been extended, and attacks by both sides have continued. 

"There are still two central threats from Hezbollah: the 122mm rockets and the drones. This demands a combination of operational and technological activity," Netanyahu said in a statement. 

"They have about 10 percent of the missiles they had at the start of the war. But these still trouble the residents of the north," he added. 

"We are carrying out strikes now, both within the security zone and north of it, and north of the Litani River," he said, reiterating Israel's right to do so under its agreement "with the US and the Lebanese government". 

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 by firing rockets towards Israel to avenge the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes. 

Lebanon and Israel's US ambassadors met twice in Washington over the past weeks, the first meetings of their kind in decades, for discussions that were categorically rejected by Hezbollah. 

Arab World

Lebanon's Aoun: We Won't Accept Humiliating Deal with Israel...Taking Country to War is 'Treason'

A photograph released by the Lebanese Presidency on April 17, 2026, shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun delivering a televised address to the Lebanese people from the Baabda Presidential Palace, east of the capital Beirut. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
A photograph released by the Lebanese Presidency on April 17, 2026, shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun delivering a televised address to the Lebanese people from the Baabda Presidential Palace, east of the capital Beirut. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
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Lebanon's Aoun: We Won't Accept Humiliating Deal with Israel...Taking Country to War is 'Treason'

A photograph released by the Lebanese Presidency on April 17, 2026, shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun delivering a televised address to the Lebanese people from the Baabda Presidential Palace, east of the capital Beirut. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
A photograph released by the Lebanese Presidency on April 17, 2026, shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun delivering a televised address to the Lebanese people from the Baabda Presidential Palace, east of the capital Beirut. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that direct negotiations with Israel were aimed at ending the conflict with Hezbollah, while accusing those who drew Lebanon into war of "treason" in an implicit rebuke to the Iran-backed armed group.

"My goal is to reach an end to the state of war with Israel, similar to the armistice agreement" of 1949, Aoun said in a statement, adding that "I assure you that I will not accept reaching a humiliating agreement".

"Those who dragged us into war in Lebanon are now holding us accountable because we made the decision to go to negotiations... What we are doing is not treason. Rather, treason is committed by those who take their country to war to achieve foreign interests," he said.

Earlier on Monday, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem reaffirmed his party’s rejection of direct negotiations by the Lebanese authorities with Israel, describing them as a “grave sin,” and warning that such a step would plunge the country into a “cycle of instability.”

In a statement carried by the group’s media outlets, Qassem said: “We categorically reject direct negotiations. Those in power should know that their conduct will not benefit Lebanon, nor will it benefit them.”

He added that it is the authorities’ responsibility “to roll back their grave missteps that place Lebanon in a cycle of instability. They are responsible for halting direct negotiations with the Israeli enemy and adopting indirect ones.”

Qassem added: “These direct negotiations and their outcomes are, to us, as if they do not exist, and they do not concern us in any way.” He stressed: “We will continue our defensive resistance to protect Lebanon and its people... We will respond to Israeli aggression and confront it,” underscoring that “no matter how much the enemy threatens, we will not retreat, bow, or be defeated.”

Following the outbreak of the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah, which began on March 2, the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors in Washington held two rounds of direct talks, the first between the two countries in decades. After the first round, US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire that took effect on April 17 for a period of 10 days, before later announcing a three-week extension after the second round of talks.

Lebanese authorities have repeatedly stated that the US-sponsored negotiations aim to end the war, secure Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon, and enable displaced residents to return to their areas, after the fighting displaced more than one million people.

Despite the ceasefire, Israel continues to carry out air and artillery strikes, particularly in southern Lebanon, while its forces conduct widespread demolition and blasting operations in many border towns, where it has announced the establishment of a “yellow line” separating dozens of villages from the rest of Lebanese territory.

At least 2,509 people have been killed and 7,755 injured in Lebanon as a result of Israeli attacks since the start of the war on March 2, according to the Health Ministry.

Arab World

Israel Defense Minister Says Hezbollah Chief ‘Playing with Fire’ That Will ‘Burn Lebanon’

People hold up portraits of Hezbollah leader, Naim Qassem, top, and slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as displaced residents drive back to their villages, in Jiyyeh, near Sidon, southern Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP)
People hold up portraits of Hezbollah leader, Naim Qassem, top, and slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as displaced residents drive back to their villages, in Jiyyeh, near Sidon, southern Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP)
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Israel Defense Minister Says Hezbollah Chief ‘Playing with Fire’ That Will ‘Burn Lebanon’

People hold up portraits of Hezbollah leader, Naim Qassem, top, and slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as displaced residents drive back to their villages, in Jiyyeh, near Sidon, southern Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP)
People hold up portraits of Hezbollah leader, Naim Qassem, top, and slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as displaced residents drive back to their villages, in Jiyyeh, near Sidon, southern Lebanon, Friday, April 17, 2026, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP)

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Monday that Hezbollah's defiance would bring catastrophic consequences for Lebanon, after the group's leader rejected proposed direct talks between Israel and Lebanon. 

"Naim Qassem is playing with fire, and the fire will burn Hezbollah and all of Lebanon... If the Lebanese government continues to take cover under the wing of the Hezbollah terrorist organization -- fire will break out and engulf the cedars of Lebanon," Katz told UN envoy to Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, according to a statement issued by his office. 

"If the Lebanese government continues to take cover under the wing of the Hezbollah terrorist organization -- fire will break out and engulf the cedars of Lebanon."

Katz said that Lebanese President Joseph Aoun was "gambling with the future of Lebanon", adding that Israel would not accept a situation in which a ceasefire in Lebanon coexists with continued attacks on Israeli forces and communities in northern Israel.

He reiterated that "the Lebanese government must ensure that Hezbollah is disarmed, first of all south of the Litani up to the Blue Line, and afterwards throughout all of Lebanon," referring to the river that cuts through southern Lebanon.

Aoun on Monday said that the direct talks with Israel were aimed at ending the conflict with Hezbollah while accusing those who drew Lebanon into war of "treason", in an implicit rebuke of the Iran-backed armed group.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem on Monday rejected Lebanon's planned direct negotiations with Israel, calling them a "grave sin" that will destabilize Lebanon. 

Lebanon and Israel's US ambassadors held two meetings in Washington over the past weeks, the first of their kind in decades. 

The first meeting led to a truce in the Israel-Hezbollah war, while Beirut has been preparing for direct negotiations with the aim of striking a peace deal with Israel. The two countries have officially been at war since 1948. 

"We categorically reject direct negotiations with Israel, and those in power should know that their actions will not benefit Lebanon or themselves," Qassem said in a statement, aired by the group's channel Al-Manar. 

He called on authorities to "back down from their grave sin that is putting Lebanon in a spiral of instability". 

He added that the Lebanese government "cannot continue while it is neglecting Lebanon's rights, giving up land, and confronting its resistant people". 

Lebanese authorities have repeatedly stated that the goal of the US-sponsored negotiations is to stop the war, secure Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, and return displaced people to their homes after the fighting forced more than a million people to flee. 

"These direct negotiations and their outcomes are as if they do not exist for us, and they do not concern us in the slightest," Qassem said. 

"We will continue our defensive resistance for Lebanon and its people," he added. 

"No matter how much the enemy threatens, we will not back down, we will not bow down, and we will not be defeated. 

"We will not give up our weapons... and the Israeli enemy will not remain on a single inch of our occupied land." 

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 by firing rockets at Israel to avenge the death of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes. 

Since the truce went into force on April 17, Israeli strikes have killed at least 36 people, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures. 

Hezbollah has meanwhile claimed several attacks on Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, as well as missile and drone launches at northern Israel, saying it is responding to Israeli "violations". 

According to details of the truce released by the US State Department, which said both Lebanon and Israel agreed to it, Israel reserves the right to continue targeting Hezbollah to prevent "planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks". 

Hezbollah strongly rejects this clause, saying the text of the agreement was not presented to the cabinet, in which the group and its allies are represented. 

"Has the government decided to work alongside the Israeli enemy against its own people?" Qassem said in his speech. 

Israeli attacks on Lebanon killed more than 2,500 people since March 2, according to Lebanese authorities.