Background
Following Hamas's October 7 attacks on Israel in 2023, which led to the Gaza war, the Yemeni Houthis began launching missiles and drones at Israel and international shipping in the Red Sea, actions they say are in solidarity with the Palestinians. In response, a United States-led coalition launched an aerial bombing campaign against the Houthis, which ended following a ceasefire deal between the US and the Houthis in May 2025. A deadly Houthi attack in Tel Aviv in July 2024 led Israel to launch its first airstrikes on Yemen. Since then, Israel began launching occasional strikes against the Houthis, hitting targets such as Sanaa and Hodeidah. [4] [2] [5]
The 28 August strikes followed an intense wave of Israeli airstrikes in Sanaa earlier that week on 24 August that killed ten people and injured 102 others. Among the targets were an oil terminal, a power plant, and a military base near the presidential palace. The strikes came after the Houthis fired a cluster bomb at Israel for the first time. According to Israeli broadcaster Channel 12, Israel prepared to target the Houthi leadership during these strikes but decided against it. [2] Earlier on 28 August, the Houthis launched two drones towards Israel, which were intercepted. [1]
Airstrikes
According to Hezbollah-linked news outlet Al Mayadeen, at least ten Israeli airstrikes hit sites in Sanaa, while further attacks took place in the governorates of 'Amran and Hajjah. [6] Saudi news outlet Al-Hadath reported that both the IAF and the Israeli Navy partook in the strikes. [7] Residents reported that the strikes targeted a site near the Houthi-held Presidential Palace, which housed a command center and a missile-storage facility, and a building in southern Sanaa. [5] Tribal leaders told the Associated Press that the strike that killed the Houthi prime minister hit a meeting at a villa in Bayt Baws, southern Sanaa. [8] Al Jazeera reported damage on Mount Attan, a hill southwest of Sanaa. [9] No casualties were immediately reported as a result of the attack. [4]
Shortly after the attack, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that it carried out an airstrike on a Houthi military site in Sanaa. [10] According to Israeli media, the IAF targeted safe houses where ten top Houthi officials had gathered to watch a televised speech by Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, launching over ten missiles in under five minutes. [1] [3] Israel's KAN News reported that an attack on the presidential palace killed several Houthi political leaders. [1] The IDF confirmed the following day that it targeted the Houthi defense minister and chief of staff. [11]
The Times of Israel reported that Israel had received intelligence at around 1:00 p.m. that ten Houthi leaders gathered near Sanaa to listen to al-Houthi's speech. Israeli intelligence then provided real-time information about the gathering, enabling the airstrike, despite a high concentration of air defenses. [12] The operation was monitored by Israeli defense minister Israel Katz and IDF chief of staff Eyal Zamir, while prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was briefed via a "red phone". [1]
Casualties
According to Israeli estimates, Houthi defense minister Mohamed al-Atifi and chief of the general staff Muhammad Abd al-Karim al-Ghamari were likely killed in the attacks near the presidential palace, the latter of whom was previously targeted during the Iran–Israel war in June 2025. [3] [13] Additionally, Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi was reportedly killed alongside several associates in a strike on an apartment in Sanaa's Bayt Baws neighborhood, according to KAN News and Yemeni media. [1] [13] The head of the Houthi-controlled Ministry of Defense, Asaad al-Sharqabi, was also killed, according to Yemeni government sources cited by Reuters. [6]
Ynet reported that Israel had growing confidence that it had killed the "entire military and governmental elite of the Houthis", while Channel 13 said that Israel believed its attack succeeded. [14] According to The Jerusalem Post, there was an "increasing likelihood" that the defense minister and chief of staff were killed. [1] However, whether al-Ghamari was present in any of the targeted locations or if any senior leaders were killed remained unconfirmed. [12] A later report by Channel 12 said that the IDF assessed that it killed the entire Houthi cabinet, including the prime minister and 12 other officials, although its findings were not definitive. [15]
On 30 August, the Houthis published a statement confirming the death of Rahawi as well as an unspecified number of ministers, while saying that others were seriously or moderately injured. [16] [17] Eight additional officials were killed, according to the Israeli Army Radio: the director of the political bureau, the prime minister's chief of staff, secretary of cabinet, minister of justice, minister of economy and trade, minister of foreign affairs, minister of agriculture, and the minister of public relations. [16] The IDF confirmed killing al-Rahawi along with other senior military and political officials. [18]
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