A senior Israeli official said Sunday that a top Houthi military commander was wounded in an Israeli airstrike overnight in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, though the Israel Defense Forces said it was still unclear whether he had been killed.
Mohammed Abd al-Karim al-Ghamari, the Houthi chief of staff and a key figure in the Iran-backed rebel group, was the target of the strike, according to the official, who spoke to Ynet on condition of anonymity.
A Yemeni security source told Ynet that al-Ghamari also heads the group’s missile program and had been meeting with others at a headquarters located in an upscale neighborhood of Sanaa when the strike occurred. The source said the Houthis deployed roadblocks in the area and ambulances were seen arriving at the scene. He added that al-Ghamari, who trained in Iran, was responsible for coordinating operations between Iranian forces and the Houthis.
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“If confirmed, his death would be a serious blow to both Iran and the Houthis,” the source said.
However, Houthi official Amin al-Barai, deputy director of the group’s “moral guidance” department, denied that al-Ghamari had been injured or targeted. In a statement overnight, he accused Israel of fabricating the report to distract from recent Iranian attacks on strategic sites in Israel. He insisted al-Ghamari was “healthy and supervising the management of attacks against Israel.”
The Houthis, who control much of western Yemen and are aligned with Iran, have launched dozens of missiles and drones at Israel in recent months, claiming to support the Palestinians in Gaza. In early May, one missile evaded interception and struck near Ben Gurion Airport, severely disrupting air travel to and from Israel.