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 at a number of international shipping vessels transiting 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. [5] [4] [6]
The 28 August strikes followed an intense wave of Israeli airstrikes in Sanaa earlier that week on 24 August that killed 10 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 the 24 August strikes but decided against it. [4] Earlier on 28 August, the Houthis launched two drones towards Israel, which were intercepted. [3]
Airstrikes
According to Hezbollah-linked news outlet Al Mayadeen, on 28 August, at least 10 Israeli airstrikes hit sites in Sanaa, while further attacks took place in the governorates of 'Amran and Hajjah. [7] Saudi news outlet Al-Hadath reported that both the Israeli Air Force and the Israeli Navy partook in the strikes. [8] Asharq al-Awsat reported that three sites were targeted: a home near a water plant, a site in Jabal Atan, and a site near the Houthi-held Presidential Palace used to hold meetings; with one of the buildings being completely destroyed. [9] 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. [10] The meeting was held between government ministers "to evaluate [the government's] activity and performance over the past year", according to the Houthis. [11] Al Jazeera reported damage on Mount Attan, a hill southwest of Sanaa. [12]
Shortly after the attack, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that it carried out an airstrike on a Houthi military site in Sanaa. [13] 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. [3] [1] Israel's KAN News reported that an attack on the presidential palace killed several Houthi political leaders. [3] The IDF confirmed the following day that it targeted the Houthi defense minister and chief of staff. [14]
The Times of Israel reported that Israel had received intelligence at around 1 p.m. that 10 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. [15] 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". [3]
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. [1] [17] The two made public statements after the attacks, but have not publicly appeared since. It was reported on 29 August that al-Atifi survived with serious injuries. [18] 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. [3] [17] The head of the Houthi-controlled Ministry of Defense, Asaad al-Sharqabi, was also killed, according to Yemeni government sources cited by Reuters. [7]
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. [19] According to The Jerusalem Post, there was an "increasing likelihood" that the defense minister and chief of staff were killed. [3] However, whether al-Ghamari was present in any of the targeted locations or if any senior leaders were killed remained unconfirmed. [15] 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. [20]
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. [21] [22] It was later confirmed that 12 people, more than half of the 22-member cabinet, were killed, namely the prime minister, 9 other ministers, and 2 cabinet members. [23] According to the Israeli Army Radio, among the dead were the director of the political bureau, the prime minister's chief of staff, secretary of cabinet, minister of justice, minister of economy and trade, Jamal Amer, who was minister of foreign affairs, minister of agriculture, and the minister of public relations. [21] The IDF confirmed killing al-Rahawi along with other senior military and political officials. [24]
Rahawi and other victims of the strike were given a funeral at the Al-Shaab Mosque in Sanaa on 1 September. [23]
Reactions
Following the strikes, Israeli defense minister Israel Katz said: "As we warned the Houthis in Yemen: After the plague of darkness comes the plague of the firstborn," referencing the Biblical Plagues of Egypt. [4] He added that: "Anyone who raises a hand against Israel – their hand will be severed." [3]
A Houthi defense source initially denied that any senior leaders had been targeted and instead claimed that the attacks targeted Yemeni civilians due to "their positions supporting Gaza". [4] The Houthis later described the attacks as "criminal and treacherous", and Supreme Political Council leader Mahdi al-Mashat vowed to avenge the killings, warning international companies to leave Israel. [27] Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi vowed to continue and to escalate the group's missile and drone attacks on Israel. [28]
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps called the attack a war crime that sought to suppress Yemen's support for the Palestinians, and added that the attack "will ignite greater anger and expand the geography of resistance." Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian urged an international response to Israel, while judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i said the attacks displayed "Israel's failure to defeat Yemen militarily". [29]
Hezbollah secretary-general Naim Qassem sent condolences to Abdul-Malik al-Houthi. [30]
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