Israel targeted the Houthi movement’s chief of staff, defence minister and other senior figures in airstrikes on Yemen’s capital on Thursday and is still verifying the results, an Israeli military official said Friday.
Yemeni government sources said Asaad al-Sharqabi, who oversaw the group’s defence ministry, was killed in the strikes. They added that another raid hit a military site frequented by chief of staff Muhammad Abd al-Karim al-Ghamari.
The Israeli military said fighter jets struck a compound in the Sanaa area where senior Houthi figures had gathered, calling it a “complex operation” enabled by intelligence-gathering and air superiority. “We took advantage of an intelligence window of opportunity… and acted with precision and speed,” the official said.
On Thursday, Israeli security sources said multiple locations were targeted as senior Houthi officials gathered to watch a recorded speech by the group’s leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi. The Houthis did not immediately comment. A Houthi defence source earlier denied leaders were targeted, according to the group’s media.
The Iran-aligned Houthis have attacked vessels in the Red Sea in what they describe as solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, and have fired missiles toward Israel, most of which were intercepted. Israel has responded with repeated strikes on Houthi-controlled areas, including the port of Hodeidah.