Trump pronounces US ceasefire with Houthis in Yemen after Oman-mediated deal

President Donald Trump introduced on Tuesday the US will cease bombing the Houthis in Yemen, saying that the Iran-aligned group had agreed to cease interrupting vital delivery lanes within the Center East.

After Trump made the announcement, Oman mentioned it had mediated a ceasefire deal between the Houthis and the US, marking a significant shift within the Iran-aligned group’s coverage for the reason that begin of Israel’s warfare in Gaza in October 2023.

Beneath the settlement, neither the US nor the Houthis would goal the opposite, together with US vessels within the Pink Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, Oman mentioned in a press release. The assertion from Oman didn’t point out whether or not the Houthis had agreed to cease assaults on Israel.

“They mentioned please don’t bomb us any extra and we’re not going to assault your ships,” Trump mentioned of the Houthis throughout an Oval Workplace assembly with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

“And I’ll settle for their phrase, and we’re going to cease the bombing of the Houthis efficient instantly.”

The US intensified strikes on Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis this yr, to cease assaults on Pink Sea delivery. Rights activists have raised issues over civilian casualties.

Houthi officers didn’t instantly reply to Reuters requests for remark

The Houthis have been firing at Israel and at delivery within the Pink Sea since Israel started its navy offensive in opposition to Hamas in Gaza after the Palestinian militant group’s lethal assault on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Trump mentioned Washington will take the Houthis’ phrase that they might not be blowing up ships any longer.

The U.S. navy has mentioned it has struck greater than 1,000 targets since its present operation in Yemen, referred to as Operation Tough Rider, began on March 15. The strikes, the US navy mentioned, have killed “tons of of Houthi fighters and quite a few Houthi leaders.”

Tensions have been excessive for the reason that Gaza warfare started, however have risen additional since a Houthi missile landed close to Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday, prompting Israeli airstrikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah port on Monday.

The Israeli navy carried out an airstrike on Yemen’s important airport in Sanaa on Tuesday, its second assault in two days on Iran-aligned Houthi rebels after a surge in tensions between the group and Israel.

Beneath former President Joe Biden’s administration, the US and Britain retaliated with air strikes in opposition to Houthi targets in an effort to maintain open the essential Pink Sea buying and selling route – the trail for about 15% of world delivery site visitors.

Trump didn’t say whether or not Britain had agreed additionally to the ceasefire.

After Trump grew to become US president in January, he determined to considerably intensify air strikes in opposition to the Houthis. The marketing campaign got here after the Houthis mentioned they might resume assaults on Israeli ships passing via the Pink Sea and Arabian Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden.

On April 28, a suspected US airstrike hit a migrant middle in Yemen, and Houthi TV says 68 folks had been killed in one of many deadliest assaults in six weeks of intensified US strikes.