Israel has repeatedly targeted the Houthis in recent months as tensions with the group increase over the war in Gaza.
The leader of Yemen’s Houthis, Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, has denounced Israel and signalled defiance, hailing assassinated government leaders as “the martyrs of all Yemen”, the day after the group confirmed the death of its prime minister and other cabinet ministers.
“The Israeli enemy, with its crimes and savagery, does not spare even children, women and defenceless civilians,” he said during his first speech on Sunday since the Israeli strikes, according to Houthi media.
“The crime of targeting ministers and civilian officials is added to the criminal record of the Israeli enemy in the region.”
The prime minister of the Houthis’ government in the capital, Sanaa, Ahmed Ghaleb al-Rahawi, was killed in a Thursday Israeli strike on Sanaa along with “several” other ministers, the Houthis said in a statement on Saturday.
Al-Rahawi, who served as prime minister in areas of the divided country that the group controls, was targeted along with other members of the Houthi-led government during a workshop, the statement said.
Al-Houthi added that the “record of the Israeli enemy is one of horrific terror” as it kills people in Palestinian territory, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran. He called Israel “a criminal foe that demonstrates its savagery, criminality and aggression through practices that know no rules, no commitments, no charters and no considerations”.
The Houthi commander said the group will keep acting against Israel in opposition to the war on Gaza in solidarity with Palestinians suffering, adding that “our people will not be weakened by the aggression they are facing”.
Israel has repeatedly targeted Houthi positions in recent months as the Yemeni group has launched attacks on Israel and on Western vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Quoting unnamed sources, Israeli media reported on Friday that the Israeli army attacked the entire Houthi cabinet, including the prime minister and 12 other ministers, on Thursday.
The attack came four days after Israeli strikes on the Yemeni capital on August 24 killed 10 people and wounded more than 90, according to health officials.
Houthi raids on UN offices
In an apparent security crackdown amid Israel’s attacks across Sanaa, the Houthis on Sunday raided offices of the United Nations’ food and children’s agencies in Yemen’s capital, detaining at least one UN employee, officials said.
Ammar Ammar, a spokesperson for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), told the Associated Press that there was “an ongoing situation” related to their offices in Sanaa, without providing further details.
The UN official said contacts with several other World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF staffers were lost and that they were likely also detained.
Abeer Etefa, a spokesperson for the WFP, told the Associated Press that security forces also raided the agencies’ offices in the Houthi-controlled capital on Sunday morning.
“WFP reiterates that the arbitrary detention of humanitarian staff is unacceptable,” Etefa said.
The UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg said he “strongly” condemned the detentions of UN personnel and said these arrests “violate the fundamental obligation to respect and protect their safety, dignity, and ability to carry out their essential work in Yemen.”
“At least 11 UN personnel were detained. These arrests come in addition to 23 UN personnel currently in detention, some detained since 2021 and 2023, and one colleague who died in detention earlier this year,” he said.
“Despite sustained engagement and assurances sought over the last year, the arbitrary detention of UN staff, NGO workers, and civil society has continued. These actions severely hinder broader efforts to deliver assistance and advance peace in Yemen,” he added and reiterated his demand to release the arrested people.
The Houthis’ raids are the latest in a long-running Houthi crackdown against the UN and other international organisations working in rebel-held areas in Yemen.
They have detained dozens of UN staffers, as well as people associated with aid groups, civil society and the now-closed US Embassy in Sanaa.
In February, the UN also suspended its operations in the Houthi stronghold of Saada in northern Yemen after the Houthis detained eight UN staffers in January.
