Security tightened around Netanyahu, Katz after Houthi threats of revenge

Israel’s internal security service, Shin Bet, increased security measures on Sunday around Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz, following threats of revenge issued by Yemen’s Houthi group after senior figures of the movement were killed in Yemen.

According to the official Israeli broadcaster Kan, Shin Bet has for days been taking “special and exceptional steps” to protect senior officials after the Houthis vowed to retaliate for the killing of their prime minister, Ahmed Al-Rahwi, and other leaders in an Israeli air strike on the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, last Thursday.

The Israeli army said the air force carried out an operation named “Drop of Luck”, targeting a building in Sanaa that housed more than 10 senior Houthi figures, both military and political.

Kan added that among those targeted were the Houthis’ chief of staff Mohammed Al-Ghamari, defence minister Mohammed Al-Atifi, and interior minister Abdul Karim Al-Houthi, in the group’s government, which is not internationally recognised. The Houthis’ leader, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, was not among the intended targets.

READ: Senior Houthi military leader vows harsh response against Israel soon