A source within Yemen’s Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, has told Newsweek that the group would persist in its battle with Israel after reports that Israeli forces carried out a targeted strike against senior figures at a meeting.
The Israeli attack, which comes amid an unprecedented exchange of strikes between Israel and Ansar Allah’s Axis of Resistance coalition ally, Iran, was reported by a number of Israeli outlets as well as Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hadath network.
The reports cited unnamed sources suggesting that the target was Ansar Allah military Chief of Staff Mohammed Abdel Karim al-Ghamari. Al-Hadath also reported that Ansar Allah-led Supreme Political Council President Mahdi al-Mashat was in attendance as well at the meeting.
Their fates have yet to be confirmed.
The Ansar Allah source with whom Newsweek spoke to declined to discuss the details of the strike but affirmed that the group was prepared to move forward with its missile and drone campaign against Israel even in the case of losing high-level leaders.
“We are all projects of martyrdom, and we are not afraid of being targeted,” the Ansar Allah source said. “Every leader is succeeded by a thousand leaders.”
Newsweek has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment.
Ansar Allah has fired dozens of missiles and drones at Israel since October 2023, intervening in support of the Palestinian Hamas movement after it launched a surprise attack on Israel. The ensuing conflict sparked a still-ongoing war that has spread across the Middle East, drawing in Iran and non-state actor allies across the region.
Rising tensions over the conflict took a dramatic new turn this week when Israel launched a sweeping and unprecedented series of strikes across Iran. The operating, dubbed “Rising Lion,” has involved hundreds of attacks targeting Iran’s nuclear program and military infrastructure.
Israel has also slain key Iranian commanders, including Iranian Armed Forces chief of staff Major General Mohammed Bagheri, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) chief Major General Hossein Salami and IRGC Aerospace Forces commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, as well as several nuclear scientists.
With Israeli strikes still continuing, Iran launched a retaliatory operations known as “True Promise III,” marking the third and most intensive series of missile and drone attacks by the Islamic Republic. Both sides continued launching attacks throughout Saturday.
Throughout the war in Gaza, Israel has conducted a number of operations killing Axis of Resistance leaders, including Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas Political Bureau chief Yayha Sinwar. Sinwar’s predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, was slain in an operation that took place during his visit to Iran and has been widely attributed to Israel.
Thus far, Ansar Allah has yet to report any senior leadership deaths throughout the conflict, though President Donald Trump‘s administration claimed to have killed the group’s top missile expert in a series of strikes conducted in March. The identity of the alleged target has not been revealed.
Days earlier, as Ansar Allah prepared to resume its campaign against Israel amid a breakdown in a temporary truce reached between Israel and Hamas, the Ansar Allah source with whom Newsweek spoke had said the group was “essentially proceeding with extreme caution” to protect its leadership, but at the same time was “highly prepared to make sacrifices and cannot back down.”
Ansar Allah is led by Abdul-Malek al-Houthi, a Zaidi Shiite Muslim cleric who assumed the top role after his brother, Hussein, was killed during a clash with Yemeni security forces in 2004. Houthi went on to lead the group to a successful takeover of the capital Sanaa a decade later and battled the country’s Saudi-backed internationally recognized government for years until a ceasefire mediated by the U.N. in April 2022.
Today, Ansar Allah remains in control of around a third of Yemen and up to 80 percent of its population. The group denies receiving direct support from Iran, which has also rejected allegations that it was supplying its ally with weapons.
In addition to striking Israel, Ansar Allah has conducted hundreds of strikes against commercial vessels accused of dealing with Israel, as well as U.S. warships, amid the war in Gaza. The substantially reduced maritime traffic through the Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and Suez Canal, yet the campaign was halted following a deal announced last month by Trump.
Notably, the agreement did not include Ansar Allah committing to a suspension of its attacks against Israel.
With Hezbollah reiterating its commitment to a November 2024 ceasefire signed with Israel and Islamic Resistance in Iraq factions having yet to resume their campaign against Israel since the ultimately unsuccessful Gaza ceasefire signed in January, Ansar Allah remains the most active faction of the Axis of Resistance.
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
The post Houthis Say ‘1000 Leaders’ in Store Amid Israel Assassination Strike Report appeared first on Newsweek.
