Who was Muhammad al-Ghamari? Yemen's Houthis say chief of staff killed months after Israeli strikes
Houthis' chief of staff Muhammad Abd Al-Karim al-Ghamari was reportedly killed during a targeted Israeli airstrike on the capital, Sanaa, in June and August.
Yemen's Houthis said on Thursday that their Chief of Staff Muhammad Abd Al-Karim al-Ghamari, one of the most senior military officials of the Iran-backed group, was killed "while fulfilling his duties".
Without directly blaming Israel for his killing, Houthis were quoted by Reuters as saying that the conflict with Israel had not ended.
Israel will "receive its deterrent punishment for the crimes it has committed," they said.
Al-Ghamari was killed during a targeted Israeli airstrike on the capital, Sanaa, in late August, Jfeed reported.
Meanwhile, sources in the Israel Defence Force (IDF) had confirmed to The Jerusalem Post that they had conducted strikes in Yemen on June 14 in an attempted targeted attack on a senior Houthi military leader.
"We will soon know if it succeeded," an Israeli source told the Post at the time.
Who are the Houthis?
Houthis are an Iran-backed armed group that controls most parts of Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, and some of the western and northern areas close to Saudi Arabia, Al Jazeera reported.
The Houthis emerged in the 1990s but rose to international prominence in 2014, when the group rebelled against Yemen’s government, forcing it to step down and sparking a crippling humanitarian crisis.
The Houthis had attacked commercial and military ships with potential Israeli links to pressure Israel to end its war in Gaza.
On November 18, 2023, the group took over a cargo ship called the Galaxy Leader, which they have since turned into a tourist attraction for Yemenis, according to Al Jazeera.
The Houthis had also fired missiles towards Israel in what they said were acts of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, most of which have been intercepted.
“We have emphasised to everyone that [the Houthi] operations are to support the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and that we cannot stand idly by in the face of the aggression and siege,” Houthi chief negotiator and spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam told Al Jazeera in December 2023.
Israel has responded with strikes on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
Who was Muhammad Abdul Karim al-Ghamari?
According to reports, Muhammad Abdul Karim al-Ghamari had served as the Chief of the General Staff for the Houthi forces.
He had been a top priority target for Israel, having reportedly been the subject of a previous, unsuccessful Israeli assassination attempt in June 2025.
Al-Ghamari was known to have close ties with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah.