Senior Houthi Leaders Reported Targeted In Israeli Strikes On Yemen’s Sanaa (Videos)

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A series of Israeli strikes hit the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, on August 28, with later Hebrew media reports suggesting that the target was senior leaders of the Houthis (Ansar Allah).

In a statement, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that the Israeli Air Force (IAF) carried out a targeted strike on a military site of the Houthis Sanaa.

“The IDF is acting forcefully against the Houthi terror regime, alongside intensifying operations against Hamas in Gaza, and will continue to work to eliminate all threats to Israeli civilians,” the military said.

Earlier in the day, the IDF said that the IAF intercepted two drones launched from Yemen. One of the drones was shot down near the border with Egypt.

Defense Minister Israel Katz, together with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and senior commanders coordinated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu via the Red Line communication system before authorizing the operation, a separate statement from Katz’s office said.

“As we warned the Houthis in Yemen: After the plague of darkness comes the plague of the firstborn,” the minister said in a statement, a reference to the biblical 10 plagues.

Later Hebrew media reports said that the strike targeted senior leaders of the Houthis. The reporters, which cited unnamed security officials, said that Israeli intelligence learned just a few hours before the strikes that ten Houthi ministers, including the minister of defense, and senior officials had gathered outside Sanaa to hear a speech by the group’s leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi.

The IDF then launched a strike targeting the meeting. It remains unclear if the Houthis’ chief of staff, Muhammad al-Ghamari, was present, according to the reports.

Israeli intelligence provided real-time details of the gathering, enabling the strike, which was carried out despite the heavy deployment of air defenses in Sanaa, the reports said, noting that Israel monitored al-Houthi speech to see whether he realized his senior leaders were being targeted but he gave no indication of being aware.

These reports seemed to be dismissed by a Houthi defense official who told Al-Masirah TV, which is affiliated with the group, that Israel was presenting “conflicting accounts of its aggression and allegations of targeting leaders in the capital, Sanaa.”

“The Israeli aggression on the capital, Sanaa, is targeting the Yemeni people’s support for the Palestinian people,” the official said, adding that these “threats will not intimidate the Yemeni people and their leadership, and the Zionist raids will not deter them from supporting Gaza.”

This was the sixteenth such attack to be carried out by the IDF against the Houthis in Yemen, located more than 1,800 kilometers away from Israel. In one of the previous attacks, Israel attempted to assassinate al-Ghamari, but failed. Most of the remaining strikes targeted civilian infrastructure in Houthi-run areas.

The strikes have so far failed to deter the Houthis or to degrade their offensive capabilities. Since March 18, when the IDF resumed its offensive against Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis have launched 71 ballistic missiles and at least 25 suicide drones at Israel.

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