Israel Attempts 'Decapitation’ Strikes Of Top Houthi Leadership In Yemen

On Thursday the Israeli Air Force carried out major strikes on Yemen, but unlike prior attacks, this one was reportedly aimed at eliminating top military and political leaders of the Iran-backed Houthi movement.

It was an operation widely described by Israeli media as the IDF military’s most significant strike against the Houthis to date. According to Israeli media citing anonymous security sources, intelligence indicated that ten senior Houthi officials, including the group’s defense minister, had gathered near Sanaa to attend a speech by Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi – although none of this can be definitively confirmed.

Via X/Times of Israel

The Israeli Air Force reportedly conducted an airstrike aimed at that assembly, resulting in huge explosions and fireballs erupting near the presidential compound and a southern Sanaa building.

What remains unknown, and is unlikely to go unconfirmed for days or more, is which high-ranking Houthi officials were actually present, or whether the group’s chief of staff, Muhammad al-Ghamari, was among them.

Regional reports suggest Israeli intelligence was monitoring the situation in real time, providing precise data that enabled the strike, even though that particular area of the city is known for having strong air defenses.

According to more details in regional sources:

Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen network, affiliated with Hezbollah, reported that more than 10 strikes hit the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and attacks were reported in the provinces of Amran and Hajjah. Sources told the Saudi Al-Hadath TV channel that the attacks „targeted Houthi positions in the Hajjah area. They targeted houses where Houthi leaders were hiding.”

Israeli Defense Minister Katz soon after the attack was complete, stated, „As we warned the Houthis in Yemen: After the plague of darkness comes the plague of the firstborn” – in reference to the Biblical Ten Plagues of Egypt.

pic.twitter.com/BC7xeq8Vkq

— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) August 24, 2025

His words suggested that some of among the top Houthi leadership were taken out.

And Israel’s military in follow-up said, „The IDF is acting forcefully against the Houthi terror regime, alongside intensifying operations against Hamas in Gaza, and will continue to act to eliminate all threats to Israeli civilians.”

Remarkably powerful daytime attack, after the Houthis over several months have targeted Tel Aviv’s international airport with ballistic missiles…

A big attack in Yemen right now pic.twitter.com/6ItRTNBZQF

— Documenting Israel (@DocumentIsrael) August 24, 2025

The Houthis are an Iran-allied movement which has shown resiliency, given that for over a half-decade it was bombed by the Saudi-US-UAE coalition, largely to no effect, and now it is in a war with Israel, and has managed to effectively shut down international transit shipping through the Red Sea.