Ansarallah vows to escalate operations after Israeli strike kills Yemeni PM Al-Rahawi
“The war has entered a new phase, and revenge must be taken; our actions will precede our words.”
Ansarallah on Saturday (August 30) announced the martyrdom of Prime Minister Ahmed Ghalib Al-Rahawi following the Israeli strikes on the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, on Thursday (August 28).
“Today, amidst the open battle with the Israeli enemy entity, we announce to our people and nation a new constellation of great martyrs from among the national leaders who represent the Yemeni people in all its spectrums,” Yemen’s Supreme Political Council said in its Saturday announcement. “We declare the martyrdom of the fighter Ahmed Ghalib Al-Rahawi, Prime Minister in the Government of Change and Construction, along with a number of his fellow ministers.”
The statement added that the leaders were targeted while they were evaluating the government’s performance over the previous year: “The criminal, treacherous Israeli enemy targeted them in a regular workshop held by the government to evaluate its activities and performance over the past year. Several of their companions were also wounded with moderate and serious injuries and are under medical care. This occurred on Thursday afternoon, the fifth of Rabi’ al-Awwal 1447 AH.”
Ansarallah began attacking the genocidal Zionist entity in support of the Palestinian resistance in October 2023. Known in the West as the Houthis, Ansarallah gradually intensified its attacks on Israel and imposed a maritime blockade on key waterways. Its blockade of the Red Sea has led to the bankruptcy of the once-bustling Eilat port in the south of occupied Palestine. Ansarallah has also repeatedly attacked Ben-Gurion Airport in central occupied Palestine, halting air traffic for hours and forcing millions of genocidal Israelis into bomb shelters.
For its “crime” of adhering to the Genocide Convention, which obligates nations to take steps to prevent genocide, Yemen has faced relentless attacks from Israel and its chief criminal backers: the United States and the United Kingdom. The latter two have launched thousands of airstrikes in various parts of Yemen, killing hundreds of civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure in the Arab world’s poorest country.
The US and the UK even assembled a pro-genocide alliance in the seas — grotesquely named Operation Prosperity Guardian — to disrupt the Yemeni naval blockade of Israel, but the fearless, seafaring Yemenis chased them away after subjecting them to the “fiercest battles since World War II.” The European Union’s Operation Aspides, also assembled for the same purpose, was similarly dismantled after failing to withstand Ansarallah attacks.
Also read: The morality of the Yemeni resistance to the Gaza genocide
Rattled by the fierce moral stand of the Yemenis — values that no Western states or their Arab allies can even begin to grasp, let alone claim to uphold — and witnessing their relentless resistance against the crimes of the Israelis and their backers, Trump signed a truce with Ansarallah in May.
The Israelis, however, have launched repeated attacks in attempt to assassinate top Ansarallah leaders. They have finally succeeded in doing so.
However, Ansarallah in its statement announcing Al-Rahawi’s martyrdom made clear that the latest Zionist assault on Yemen’s sovereignty won’t impact its “authentic stance in supporting and aiding the people of Gaza”: “We affirm to our great Yemeni people, to the oppressed Palestinian people, to all the sons of our nation, and to all free people in the world, that we continue our authentic stance in supporting and aiding the people of Gaza, and in building our armed forces and developing their capabilities to face all challenges and dangers, just as our great Yemeni people are present in all fields and arenas with all determination, will, and faith.”
Unlike the so-called democracies of the West, where protests and marches against genocide are increasingly being criminalised and conscientious citizens arrested, the leadership of Ansarallah has been enacting the demands of its anti-genocide, pro-humanitarian population. Millions of Yemenis have marched to the streets of Sana’a, Hodeidah, Saada, and other major cities, displaying their support for the besieged Palestinians — who are being subjected to a genocide for nearly two years that has slaughtered hundreds of thousands of civilians and left Gaza uninhabitable — and demanding their government to alleviate the suffering in Gaza.
And Ansarallah has responded to the popular call with unrelenting support for the people of Gaza. Its leadership has also consistently criticised Arab leaders for failing to confront the Zionists even when they have openly declared that they are pursuing their ghastly Greater Israel plan, which if successful, will wallop vast swathes of Arab lands, including about half of Saudi Arabia. But their calls for Arab solidarity have fallen on deaf ears as Zionists stack mountains of Arab corpses in Palestine.
Ansarallah’s leadership has been adamant that Yemen is fighting an existential battle. Ansarallah chief Sayyed Abdulmalik Badr Al-Din Al-Houthi was unambiguous in a speech earlier this month. “The Zionist plan includes the Nile River, the Egyptian sea front on the Red Sea, and perhaps large parts of the Arabian Peninsula, including Madinah and Makkah,” Al-Houthi said in a bid to rally the Arabs.
But all such efforts have been futile so far.
As the only ones still standing for Gaza, it is unlikely that Al-Rahawi’s assassination will stop Ansarallah from its anti-genocide operations, regardless of the cost. “Targeting the government meeting is a crossing of red lines,” said Ansarallah political bureau member Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti to Al-Mayadeen. “The war has entered a new phase, and revenge must be taken; our actions will precede our words.”
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May Mr. Al-Rahawi and his colleagues who were martyred, rest in peace. The bravery of the people of Yemen is inspirational.
Free Palestine!
Free Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen!
Free the entire world of zionism!
Many thanks for your reporting. I have passed this on.