The United States will stop bombing Yemen “effective immediately”, US President Donald Trump declared on Tuesday at the White House. Oman confirmed Trump’s statement that the Houthis agreed to stop attacking vessels in the Red Sea.
This comes hours after Israeli strikes targeted parts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa and the main international airport. Yemen’s Houthi rebels have pledged to respond to the latest Israeli strikes on Tuesday’s strikes killed at least three people and wounded 35 others, according to the Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV.
Trump said the Houthis in Yemen had told the US on Monday night that they don’t want to fight anymore.
“We will honour that. We will stop the bombings,” Trump said.
“In the future, neither side will target the other, including American vessels, in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping,” Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi wrote on X. He said that Oman had been mediating between the US and the Houthis.
Trump made no mention of Israel despite this announcement coming just days after a Houthi ballistic missile hit a parking lot close to Terminal three at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
The Houthis began attacking Israel in what they said was solidarity with besieged Palestinians in Gaza after Israel responded to the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks with a genocidal campaign.
