United States President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the United States will interrupt attacks against the hethis in Yemen after stating that the rebel group supported by Iran has “no longer wants to fight.”
“We will honor this and interrupt the bombings,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Hall during a conversation with Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney. “We will believe their word. They say they won’t attack ships anymore, and that’s the purpose of what we were doing.”
Trump denied having made a “agreement” with the Iemenite group and refused to provide more details about the decision.
“They said, ‘Please don’t bombard us anymore, and let’s not attack your ships,” Trump said.
The Houthis did not publicly speak up after Trump’s statements, but the rebel group said on Tuesday morning that he was crashing “a holy war to help Gaza’s wronged Palestinian people.”
Military campaign
The United States have been conducting air strikes against Houthis targets in Yemen since March. The campaign took place in response to the rebel group attacks on commercial vessels that sail in major sea routes in the Middle East.
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The US bombing campaign against the Houthis led to the increase in tensions with Iran, which, according to Trump, is “dictating every movement” of the rebels.
“Each shot fired by the Houthis will be seen from now as a shot fired by weapons and leadership of Iran, and Iran will be held responsible and will suffer the consequences, and these consequences will be terrible!” Trump wrote on social networks on March 17.
Israeli attack
Trump’s speeches about the end of the American air campaign against the Houthis occurred after an Israeli bombing hit the international airport of the capital of Yemen, Sanaa, in retaliation to the ballistic missile that fell around Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel-Aviv on Sunday (4), which left six injured.
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The Israeli attack killed 3 people and injured more than 30, according to health officials linked to Houthis.
Sanaa International Airport offers one of the remaining few connections to the outside world for over 20 million Yemenites living in the territory controlled by the Houthis, serving as a means of obtaining vital medical treatment and connecting with work and their loved ones abroad.
Prior to Tuesday’s attack, the Israeli army had made an appeal on social networks threatening the airport and ordering everyone’s departure in the area. Israeli war planes also reached power plants and a cement factory in Yemen.
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“The attack was carried out in response to the attack by the Houthi terrorist regime against Ben Gurion airport,” the army pointed out in a statement. “Flight clues, aircraft and airport infrastructure have been hit,” the statement added.
Yemeni analysts claim that the Houthis will not be determined by bombing and that the conflict with the United States and Israel only strengthens the group.
“Aerial attacks have never dissuaded the Houthis in the past,” said Nadwa Al-Dawsari, an Yemeni analyst at the Middle East Institute in Washington.
