The Israeli military confirmed it conducted strikes in Yemen targeting a top military figure within the Iran-aligned Ansar Allah movement, widely known as the Houthis, in what officials described as a broader campaign against the Axis of Resistance following days of sustained combat with Iran. The Israeli Defense Forces said the operation sought to kill Houthi Chief of Staff Muhammad Abd al-Karim al-Ghamari, but his status remains unconfirmed.
"We will soon know if it succeeded," an Israeli source told The Jerusalem Post following the Saturday night strike.
Multiple Israeli outlets and Saudi-based Al-Hadath reported that al-Ghamari was attending a high-level meeting that may have also included Mahdi al-Mashat, President of the Houthi-led Supreme Political Council. The strike coincided with Israeli air raids on Tehran, which the IDF said were timed alongside missile interception efforts during Iran's latest barrage.
An Ansar Allah source told Newsweek the group would continue its campaign against Israel regardless of leadership losses. "We are all projects of martyrdom, and we are not afraid of being targeted," the source said. "Every leader is succeeded by a thousand leaders."
Ansar Allah has launched dozens of missile and drone attacks on Israeli territory since October 2023, following Hamas's initial strike on Israel that triggered the current regional conflict. The group, which governs large areas of northern Yemen, has framed its actions as part of the broader resistance front aligned with Iran and Palestinian factions.
The Israeli strike follows its wider operation against Iran-codenamed Rising Lion-which included hundreds of airstrikes on nuclear sites and military targets. Iranian leaders, including Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Mohammed Bagheri, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps head Major General Hossein Salami, and IRGC Aerospace Forces commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, were reportedly killed in the strikes, along with multiple nuclear scientists.
Iran responded with its most extensive missile and drone assault to date, dubbed True Promise III, with hundreds of projectiles fired toward Israel since Friday. Both countries continued exchanging strikes into Saturday.
In past months, Israel has conducted operations that reportedly killed several senior Axis of Resistance figures, including Hezbollah's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas Political Bureau Chief Yahya Sinwar. Sinwar's predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed during a visit to Iran, in an attack widely attributed to Israel.
