‘Red lines have been crossed’: Sanaa vows revenge after Israel kills Yemeni PM

Several other top Yemeni officials were reportedly assassinated alongside Prime Minister Ahmad Ghalib al-Rahwi

31.08.2025

News Desk

Source:https://thecradle.co/articles/red-lines-have-been-crossed-sanaa-vows-revenge-after-israel-kills-yemeni-pm

Yemeni officials vowed revenge on 30 August over last week’s massive Israeli attack on the country, which resulted in the assassination of the Sanaa government’s prime minister alongside the majority of his ministers.

The strikes took place on Thursday. The assassinations were finally confirmed by the government on Sunday.

“Targeting the government meeting is a crossing of red lines,” said Mohammad al-Bukhaiti in comments to Al-Mayadeen. “The war has entered a new phase, and revenge must be taken; our actions will precede our words.”

In a statement, Yemen’s President Mahdi al-Mashat confirmed Sanaa’s continued stance with the Palestinians in Gaza, vowing that operations will continue “until the aggression is stopped and the siege is lifted … no matter the scale of the challenge.”

“To the Zionists, I say: Our revenge does not sleep, and dark days await you for what the hands of your filthy, treacherous government have wrought … When pure, sacred Yemeni blood is shed, it topples the thrones of empires that ruled the world or most of it. So, what of a humiliating, despicable, and transient entity? The blood of these national symbols in our great and glorified government is sufficient for that,” Mashat added.

He vowed that Israel “will not taste security after today.”

Yemeni Defense Minister Mohammad Nasser al-Atifi affirmed “the readiness of the Yemeni Armed Forces at all levels to confront the Zionist enemy supported by America.”

“We are with Sayyid the Leader, may God protect him, and we are his missiles and his army. The army is prepared at all levels. The political leadership has taken all necessary measures to confront the enemy, and no matter how big its conspiracies are, they will fail,” he added.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Palestinian resistance factions have also released statements mourning those who were assassinated.

The massive Israeli strikes on Yemen’s capital took place on the afternoon of 28 August. A Yemeni official initially denied that any leadership had been targeted in the strike.

The assassination of Prime Minister Ahmad Ghalib al-Rahwi was finally confirmed on Saturday.

The Director of Ansarallah’s Political Bureau, Yemeni Welfare Minister, Agriculture Minister, Economy Minister, Justice Minister, Foreign Minister, and Government Secretary were reportedly all killed alongside Rahwi.

Mashat issued a decision tasking First Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Ahmad Muftah to take on the prime minister’s duties.

Yemen has escalated its pro-Palestine drone and missile strikes targeting Israel.

Hours before the assassinations in Sanaa, two Yemeni drones launched at Israel were intercepted by the Israeli military.

One week ago, several were killed in violent Israeli strikes on Sanaa. Israel was responding to a missile launched from Yemen, which disintegrated in mid-air and resulted in several fragment impacts.

Tel Aviv has carried out several large attacks on Yemen this year, but all have failed to prevent Ansarallah and the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) from continuing to target Israel.

Several Israeli reports in recent months have noted the difficulty Israel has faced in gathering intelligence on Yemen.

Hebrew news outlet Walla reported last weekend that Israel was preparing a “target bank” for a large-scale campaign against the YAF.

According to the report, the Mossad and Israel’s military intelligence are working to compile a large “target bank” to strike at Ansarallah’s “key centers of gravity.”