Chief of staff of Yemen Houthi rebel's military dies from wounds
suffered in Israeli airstrike
[October 17, 2025]
By JON GAMBRELL
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — 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 said 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,” likely a
reference to a series of strikes Israel conducted on Aug. 28. That
attack killed Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi and others. However,
analysts suggested al-Ghamari may have been wounded in a different
attack targeting the secretive group.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also acknowledged Israel killing al-Ghamari.
“Another chief of staff in the line of terror chiefs who aimed to harm
us was eliminated," Netanyahu said. “We will reach all of them.”
Houthis offer few details
In a statement carried by the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency, the
militants said al-Ghamari had been killed alongside his 13-year-old son
Hussain and “several of his companions.” It did not elaborate on the
date of the strike, nor did it identify the others killed in the strike.
“His pure soul ascended while he was in the course of his jihadi work,”
SABA said.
The United Nations, in sanctioning al-Ghamari, described him as playing
“the leading role in orchestrating the Houthis’ military efforts that
are directly threatening the peace, security and stability of Yemen, as
well as cross-border attacks against Saudi Arabia.”
The U.S. Treasury also said al-Ghamari was “responsible for
orchestrating attacks by Houthi forces impacting Yemeni civilians” in
sanctioning him in 2021. It described him as having received training
from Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group and Iran's paramilitary
Revolutionary Guard.
“As the head of the general staff of the Houthi armed forces, the most
senior commander within the Houthi military leadership structure, al-Ghamari
is directly responsible for overseeing Houthi military operations that
have destroyed civilian infrastructure and Yemen’s neighbors,"
specifically Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the Treasury
said at the time.
The Israel military described al-Ghamari as being “responsible for
hundreds of missiles and (drone) attacks launched toward Israeli
civilians and the state of Israel.”
Al-Ghamari also led a Houthi offensive targeting Yemen's energy-rich
Marib province.
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This image made from undated video released by Yemen's Houthi rebels
shows Maj. Gen. Muhammad Abdul Karim al-Ghamari, who the group
acknowledged on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, had been killed. (Ansar
Allah Media Office via AP)
The Treasury listed his year of birth as either 1979 or 1984 at the time
of his sanctioning. His other survivors weren't immediately known.
Another SABA statement said al-Ghamari would be replaced by Maj. Gen.
Yusuf Hassan al-Madani. He had been sanctioned at the same time as al-Ghamari
by the U.S. over his work as “a prominent Houthi military leader” who
commanded the rebels' fifth military zone, including the key Red Sea
port city of Hodeida.
Death comes as Gaza ceasefire takes hold
It remains unclear how the Houthis will respond. The group gained
international prominence during the Israel-Hamas war over its attacks,
which it said were aimed at forcing Israel to stop fighting. Since the
ceasefire began Oct. 10, there has not been a Houthi attack targeting
either Israel or shipping.
The Houthi campaign against shipping has killed at least nine mariners
and seen four ships sunk. It upended shipping in the Red Sea, through
which about $1 trillion of goods passed each year before the war. The
rebels' most recent attack hit the Dutch-flagged cargo ship
Minervagracht on Sept. 29, killing one crew member on board and wounding
another.
The Houthis meanwhile have increasingly threatened Saudi Arabia and
taken dozens of workers at U.N. agencies and other aid groups as
prisoners, alleging without evidence they were spies — something
fiercely denied by the world body and others.
“Among the most dangerous espionage cells that became active are those
affiliated with organizations working in the humanitarian field, notably
the World Food Program and UNICEF,” claimed the Houthi's secretive
leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, in a televised speech Thursday without
offering evidence.
U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric forcefully rejected al-Houthi's
remarks.
“The accusations are extremely disturbing,” he said. “They’re extremely
worrying coming from the leadership. And accusations, calling U.N. staff
spies or, as we’ve seen in other contexts, calling them terrorists — all
that does is it puts the lives of U.N. staff everywhere at risk, and
it’s unacceptable.”
___
Associated Press writer Zvi Smith in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to
this report.
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