09/01/2025September 1, 2025
Yemen: Thousands attend funeral of Houthi leaders killed by Israeli strike
A funeral for 12 senior figures killed in an Israeli airstrike last week was attended by thousands of mourners in the capital of , Sanaa, on Monday.
The Israeli attack last Thursday struck a large crowd of people who had gathered to watch a televised speech by Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi, and left most members of the Islamist rebel group’s cabinet dead.
Mourners at the funeral at Sanaa’s largest mosque chanted the Houthi slogan: “God is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, Victory to .”
The Houthis promote anti-American and anti-Israeli sentiments within the Iranian-led “axis of resistance.”
Mohammed Miftah, now de facto government head of the -backed group, vowed revenge and an internal security crackdown against spies.
“We are facing the strongest intelligence empire in the world, the one that targeted the government: the whole Zionist entity [consisting of] the US administration, the Zionist entity [meaning ], the Zionist Arabs and spies inside Yemen,” Miftah told attendees inside the Al Saleh mosque.
Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi remains alive but Defense Minister Mohamed al-Atifi, who runs the Missiles Brigades Group, has not been seen since the Israeli strike.
Miftah, who was previously deputy to Prime Minister Ahmad Ghaleb al-Rahwi, is now acting head of government — a largely ceremonial position.
Since began in October 2023 in retaliation for the deadly raid on Israel by the Palestinian militant group , the Houthis have attacked Israeli and international vessels in the Red Sea in what they describe as acts of solidarity with the Palestinians.
The post Middle East updates: Thousands attend mass Houthi funeral appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
