President Trump abruptly announced on Tuesday that the United States would stop the Houthi militia after he said that the Iranian group told the United States that “they no longer want to fight.”
“They just don’t want to fight,” said Mr Trump during a meeting with the Canadian Prime Minister in the Oval Office. “And we will honor that and we will stop the bombing. They have capitulated, but more importantly, we will believe their word. They say they will no longer blow up ships.”
After Mr Trump’s comments, Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti, a senior Houthi politician, said that if the United States stopped his attacks on Yemen, the Houthis would stop their attacks on a smaller group: “American military fleets and interests.”
Mr Al-Bukhaiti said, however, that the Houthis would continue the military operations “in support of Gaza” until Israel lifts his siege on the enclave, “regardless of the sacrifices, even if we have to fight until the day of the judgment.”
His explanation left unclear whether the Houthis would stop hindering the international shipping, which had been the objective of the American bom campaign. The Houthis have insisted that they would continue to touch ships linked by Israel, but in the past the militia have focused on ships without a clear link with Israel or the United States.
“I am skeptical that the Houthis no longer want to fight,” said Gregory Johnsen, a former member of the Panel of the United Nations of the United Nations on Yemen. “The Houthis may have suggested or said that it would no longer be aimed at our assets – although I have not seen any proof of it – but I doubt whether they will stop completely.”
Mr. Johnsen noticed that Israel recently launched strikes against YemenA retaliation reaction of the Houthis probably.
“What is more, now that the Houthis know exactly how disturbing they can be for the global economy, simply by firing some missiles on commercial ships in the Red Sea, this will always be an option for the group when they feel threatened,” said Mr. Johnsen. “The Houthis will try to display this as a victory-the group went against each other with the United States for almost two months and survived. I doubt whether the US has heard the last of the Houthis.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Oman, Badr Albusaidi, said in a statement on social media that Oman had mediated the agreement between the Houthis and the United States. “In the future, none of the parties will focus on the other, including American ships, in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab street, which ensures freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping,” he said.
Further details about the deal remained unclear. Three separate Pentagon officials said that the army should not yet receive from the White House to end its attacking operations against the Houthis. The civil servants cried to find out how Mr. Trump’s announcement, who had overwhelmed the Pentagon, had changed military policy.
That did not prevent the Minister of Defense Pete Hegseeth from re -posting a “quick answer” post of the White House and quoted the president’s comments.
James Hewitt, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, refused to work out Mr Trump’s comments.
The United States has performed an air campaign against the Houthis in Yemen, where hundreds of goals were hit to reopen international shipping stans in the Red Sea, according to the Trump government. De Houthis fired projectiles and launched drones on commercial and military ships in what the militia group has described as a show of solidarity with residents of Gaza and with Hamas, the militant group that governs the Palestinian territory.
Palestinians in Gaza have been besieged by Israel since Hamas carried out a fatal attack in southern Israel in October 2023 and took hostages. Israeli and Houthi troops have also performed strikes against each other.
“Our military operations to support Gaza will not stop unless the aggression in Gaza ends,” said Mr. Al-Bukhaiti.
Mr Trump’s announcement came a few hours after the government run by Houthi had released that it stated that it was a “holy war to support the unlawful Palestinian people in Gaza” and a “Israeli-American-British” enemy confronted.
The Houthis have described their attacks as an attempt to put Israel under pressure to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, where more than two million Palestinians have had difficulty obtaining food and water – a blockade that has alone deepened recently.
Helene Cooper And Eric Schmitt contributed report from Washington and Shuaib Almosawa from Sana, Yemen.
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