(Al Jazeera Media Network) Yemen’s Houthis have confirmed that an Israeli air strike earlier this week killed the prime minister of the group’s government in the capital, Sanaa.
Ahmed al-Rahawi was killed in a Thursday strike in Sanaa along with a number of ministers, the Houthis said in a statement on Saturday.
Al-Rahawi, who served as prime minister in areas of the divided country that the group controls, was targeted along with other members of the Houthi-led government during a workshop, the statement said.
The Houthis said “several” other ministers were also killed in the Israeli attack.
The Israeli attack on Sanaa came as tensions in the region continue to escalate amid Israel’s war on Gaza.
The Israeli military said in a statement that its forces on Thursday struck “a Houthi terrorist regime military target in the area of Sanaa.”
Israel has repeatedly targeted Houthi positions in recent months as the Yemeni group has launched attacks on Israel and on western vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, in what it says is a show of support for Palestinians in Gaza.
On Wednesday, the Houthis claimed responsibility for a missile attack on southern Israel, which the country said was intercepted.
