Chief of staff of Yemen Houthi rebel’s military dies from wounds suffered in Israeli airstrike

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Israeli airstrike targeting the top leaders of Yemen’s Houthi rebels in August killed the chief of staff of its military, officials said Thursday, further escalating tensions between the group and Israel even as a ceasefire holds in the Gaza Strip.

The Houthis have acknowledged the killing of Maj. Gen. Muhammad Abdul Karim al-Ghamari, who had been sanctioned by the United Nations over his role in the country’s decadelong war.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz claimed the killing, saying that al-Ghamari died of wounds he suffered in the attack and had joined “his fellow members of the axis of evil in the depths of hell.”

Katz referred to the strike as “the strike of the firstborn,” a reference to a series of strikes Israel conducted on Aug. 28. That strike killed Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi. He was the highest-ranking official within the group to be killed by Israeli strikes that targeted the rebels over their attacks on Israel and shipping in the Red Sea corridor.

The United Nations, in sanctioning al-Ghamari, described him as playing “the leading role in orchestrating the Houthis’ military efforts that are directly threatening the peace, security and stability of Yemen, as well as cross-border attacks against Saudi Arabia.”

The U.S. Treasury also said al-Ghamari was “responsible for orchestrating attacks by Houthi forces impacting Yemeni civilians” in sanctioning him in 2021.

“As the head of the general staff of the Houthi armed forces, the most senior commander within the Houthi military leadership structure, al-Ghamari is directly responsible for overseeing Houthi military operations that have destroyed civilian infrastructure and Yemen’s neighbors,” specifically Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the Treasury said at the time.

The Treasury listed his year of birth as either 1979 or 1984 at the time of his sanctioning.