SANAA, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi group said in a statement on Thursday that its Chief of Staff, Mohammed Abdulkarim al-Gumari, had been killed in recent Israeli airstrikes.
The statement, broadcast by the Houthi-run satellite channel al-Masirah, said that several senior officers were also killed alongside him at the same location, but provided no further details.
"The rounds of conflict with the enemy (Israel) have not ended, and the Zionist enemy will receive its deterrent punishment for the crimes it has committed," the Houthis said.
A Houthi source said on condition of anonymity that al-Gumari was killed on Aug. 28 in the Israeli airstrikes targeting a government compound in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa, which also killed Ahmed al-Rahawi, the Houthi-appointed prime minister, along with 11 other ministers and two senior cabinet officials during a meeting.
According to local media, al-Gumari was a confidant of the group's leader, Abdulmalik al-Houthi. He had visited Iran and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon many times. He was also a leading member of the group's so-called Supreme Jihad Council.
Meanwhile, the group announced in a separate statement the appointment of Yousif al-Madani as the group's chief of staff.
The Israeli strikes against the Houthis in Yemen came amid escalating tensions between Israel and Iranian-backed groups across the region. The Houthis have claimed responsibility for repeated drone and missile attacks targeting Israel and the Red Sea shipping since November 2023, days after the Israel-Hamas war broke out in Gaza. The Houthis say their attacks were in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Almost all Houthi attacks had been reportedly intercepted and destroyed by Israeli defense systems.
The Houthis stopped launching attacks against Israel since the Gaza ceasefire went into force last week. ■
