Yemen: Houthi threat to escalate operations against Israel in response to its recent attacks
Arab Sea Newspaper - News Updates
Arabian Sea - Yemen - Follow-ups: The Houthis have threatened to escalate military operations against the occupied Palestinian territories in response to the recent Israeli airstrikes on Sanaa. The so-called Chief of the General Staff of the Houthis, Muhammad Abdul Karim al-Ghamari, affirmed that the raids on Sanaa "will not go unpunished." This came in a statement to the Houthi-controlled Saba News Agency hours after Hebrew media announced that the Israeli army had attempted to assassinate al-Ghamari on Thursday. Al-Ghamari said that "the Zionist enemy's targeting of civilian neighborhoods in Sanaa will not go unpunished." He stressed that "Yemen will not back down from supporting Gaza, no matter the extent of the targeting or sacrifice." He added that "the Zionist escalation in Gaza or towards Yemen is not a sign of strength, but rather a sign of weakness and failure to achieve its goals for nearly two years, and it will be met with escalation." The Israeli occupation army said that in its recent attack on Sanaa, it attempted to assassinate the Houthi Chief of Staff, their Minister of Defense, and officials in their government. It stated that the attacks on Yemen came after intelligence information was received about a meeting of Houthi leaders, noting that it is awaiting the results of the operation. It pointed out that Israel is preparing for dangerous scenarios in the event that the Houthi leadership is harmed, including their efforts to intensify the launching of missiles towards the occupied Palestinian territories. The occupation launched 10 raids on sites in Sanaa, where Israeli Channel 12 quoted a source as saying that the assassination plan in Yemen was approved at the beginning of this week. For its part, a Russian agency said that the head of the internationally unrecognized Houthi government, Ahmed al-Rahwi, was killed in an Israeli air strike targeting Sanaa. Sputnik quoted a Yemeni source close to the al-Rahwi family as saying that "Israeli warplanes bombed a house in the Hadda area, south of Sanaa, killing 4 people, including al-Rahwi and a number of his companions, while others were injured." He pointed out that the Houthis are making arrangements to announce the news of al-Rahwi's death, after they choose a new head of government to succeed him, a year after his appointment. Hebrew media said that among the Houthi leaders targeted by the bombing in Sanaa were the head of the group's internationally unrecognized government, Ahmed al-Rahwi, its Minister of Defense, Muhammad Nasser al-Atefi, and its Chief of Staff, Muhammad Abdul Karim al-Ghamari.
