Houthis vowed on Saturday to avenge the killing of their prime minister and other political leaders in Israeli strikes this week.
“We promise to God, to the dear Yemeni people and the families of the martyrs and wounded that we will take revenge,” the head of the group,s supreme political council, Mahdi al-Mashat, said in a video message posted on Telegram.
He warned foreign companies to leave Israel “before it’s too late.”
Earlier on Saturday, Yemen’s Houthis said their prime minister had been killed in an Israeli airstrike, the most senior official known to have died in a series of attacks during the Gaza war.
Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser Al-Rahawi, who was appointed last year, was killed along with other officials in the Israeli attack on Thursday, the Iran-backed Houthis said.
Israel has been striking Houthi targets for months in response to missile attacks by the group, who claims solidarity with the Palestinians and have also been harassing shipping in the Red Sea.
“We announce the martyrdom of the fighter Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser Al-Rahawi… along with several of his ministerial colleagues, as they were targeted by the treacherous Israeli criminal enemy,” a Houthi statement said.
“Others among their companions were injured with moderate to serious wounds and are receiving medical care since Thursday afternoon,” it added.
On Thursday, Israeli forces said they “struck a Houthi terrorist regime military target.” Unsourced Yemeni media reports of Rahawi’s death were not confirmed at the time.
The Houthis called the gathering that was hit “a routine workshop organized by the government to evaluate its activities and performance over the past year.”
Rahawi had made a public appearance on Wednesday, attending an event organized by the Houthi Ministry of Endowments in Sanaa.
He came from the southern province of Abyan, which is not part of the large swathes of Yemen under Houthi control.
The group has traditionally reserved the premiership for southerners in an attempt to win hearts and minds in the south.
Deputy prime minister Mohammed Ahmed Miftah was appointed as interim prime minister following Rahawi’s death, the Houthis announced separately.
The group is part of Iran’s “axis of resistance,” an anti-Israel alliance of militant groups across much of the Middle East.
