Chief of staff of Yemen Houthi rebel’s military dies from wounds suffered in Israeli airstrike

An Israeli airstrike targeting the top leaders of Yemen’s Houthi rebels in August killed the chief of staff of its military, officials said Thursday, further escalating tensions between the group and Israel even as a ceasefire holds in the Gaza Strip.

The Houthis have acknowledged the killing of Maj. Gen. Muhammad Abdul Karim al-Ghamari, who had been sanctioned by the United Nations over his role in the country’s decadelong war.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz claimed the killing, saying that al-Ghamari died of wounds he suffered in the attack and had joined “his fellow members of the axis of evil in the depths of hell.”

Katz referred to the strike as “the strike of the firstborn,” a reference to a series of strikes Israel conducted on Aug. 28. That strike killed Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi. He was the highest-ranking official within the group to be killed by Israeli strikes that targeted the rebels over their attacks on Israel and shipping in the Red Sea corridor.