Yemen’s Houthis military chief killed as Israeli PM, Netanyahu, vows “we will reach all of them”

Yemen’s Houthi movement has confirmed the death of its military chief of staff, Major General Mohammed al-Ghamari, saying he and his teenage son were killed during what the group described as the “honourable battle against the Israeli enemy”.

The Houthi statement gave no operational details, but said Ghamari and his son died amid what it called the “criminal American-Zionist aggression against the country” over the past two years. It added that “a large number of great martyrs, both civilians and military personnel” were lost in that period.

Israeli authorities say the strike that wounded Ghamari took place in Sanaa in late August. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Ghamari “died of wounds” he sustained in an Israeli air strike in Yemen’s capital Sanaa in late August, which also killed the Houthi government’s prime minister and other ministers.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu framed the killing as part of an ongoing campaign against those he described as threats to Israel.
“Another chief of staff in the line of terror chiefs who aimed to harm us was eliminated,” he said in a statement. “We will reach all of them.”

The Iran-backed Houthis have held sway over large parts of north-western Yemen since they drove the internationally recognised government from the area a decade ago, triggering a brutal civil war.

Following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip in October 2023, the group began targeting Israel and international shipping in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, saying the strikes were in solidarity with the Palestinians.

The United States and the United Kingdom have also carried out strikes on targets in Yemen they said were linked to Houthi military operations, in response to drone and missile attacks on Israel and on Red Sea shipping.

In its announcement the group paid tribute to Ghamari: “The martyred leader, Major General Mohammed Abdul Karim al-Ghamari, along with some of his companions and his martyred son, Hussein, aged 13, ascended as a blessed martyr in the course of his jihadist work and the fulfilment of his religious duty,” the statement said.

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It added that such losses were “a source of pride” and vowed retribution. “The rounds of conflict with the enemy have not ended, and the Zionist enemy will receive its deterrent punishment for the crimes it has committed,” it warned.

Israeli Defence Minister Katz posted on X that Ghamari had joined “his thwarted comrades of the Axis of Evil in the depths of hell”, adding: “We have worked hard against the Houthis to remove significant threats – and we will do so against any threat in the future as well.”

There have been no reported Houthi missile or drone attacks since Israel agreed a Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas last week.

The Houthis’ leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, has said the movement will be prepared to strike again if Israel does not honour the agreement.