Yemen's Houthis vow to keep up Israel attacks despite deadly strikes

The Houthi rebels' caretaker prime minister vowed Friday to keep fighting Israel despite recent strikes near the rebel-held capital Sanaa that killed his predecessor and nearly half of his cabinet.

Since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023, the Iran-backed Houthis have launched repeated drone and missile attacks against Israel claiming solidarity with the Palestinians.

In response, Israel has carried out rounds of retaliatory strikes in Yemen, mainly targeting infrastructure such as ports, power stations and the international airport in Sanaa.

"It is a great honour for us to follow this path, and to have martyred leaders and an entire government targeted on this path to Jerusalem," caretaker premier Mohammed Ahmed Miftah told thousands of supporters who had gathered for a weekly rally in the capital.

Behind him were pictures of the slain ministers and officials.

"We commend the escalation of military operations by our forces," he said, reading a statement issued by the Huthi organisers of the protest.

Addressing the people of Gaza, Miftah promised: "We are with you and will not abandon you, no matter the sacrifices".

Houthi supporters held up pictures of rebel leader Abdelmalek al-Houthi and chanted slogans against Israel and the United States.

On Wednesday, Israeli air strikes hit the Houthi armed forces' media operation in Sanaa and a Central Bank branch in Jawf province.

The Houthis said the strikes killed 46 people and wounded more than 160.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said journalists working for the September 26 and al-Yaman newspapers were among those killed at the "Moral Guidance Headquarters" in Sanaa.

In August, Israeli air strikes near Sanaa killed the Houthis' prime minister Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi, nine ministers and two cabinet officials.

The killings were the most high-profile assassinations of Houthi officials during nearly two years of hostilities with Israel over the Gaza war.