Israeli leaders were reportedly caught off guard by Trump’s capitulation, which came as Ansarallah officials pledged to retaliate strongly for the destruction of Sanaa International Airport by Tel Aviv
US President Donald Trump announced on 6 May that Washington will put a stop to its illegal war against Yemen, claiming that the Ansarallah-led Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) “don’t want to fight anymore.”
When pressed by reporters on the terms of the agreement with Sanaa, Trump claimed Yemeni officials “said please don’t bomb us anymore.” Asked where he got that information, Trump said, “It doesn’t matter where I heard it – a very good source.”
Nevertheless, the Omani Foreign Ministry announced later that Muscat successfully brokered a ceasefire agreement between Washington and Sanaa that will see both sides end hostilities.
“The understanding between the US and the Houthis not to attack each other is aimed at building momentum for Iran nuclear deal talks,” CNN reported, citing people familiar with the agreement. However, the agreement reportedly does not call for an end to Yemeni operations against Israel.
According to the report, US special envoy to West Asia Steve Witkoff brokered the ceasefire over the past week.
Trump made the announcement a few hours after Israel violently bombed the Yemeni capital, destroying large parts of Sanaa International Airport and several power stations around the city.
According to reports in Hebrew media, Israeli authorities were caught unaware by Trump’s capitulation to Yemen. “[Authorities] were surprised by his words, and do not understand the implications of his statement,” Yedioth Ahronoth revealed.
Following the truce announcement, the Chairman of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council, Mahdi al-Mashat, confirmed that despite the Israeli aggression, “There will be no retreat from supporting Gaza, no matter the cost.”
“The Israeli aggression proves to our people the correctness of their movement and struggle, and reassures them even more when they see that they are facing the vilest enemy humanity has ever known. Our response, Allah willing, will be devastating, painful, and at a level that will not be bearable for the Israeli enemy,” Mashat added.
He also called on Israeli settlers to “stay in shelters or leave immediately to your homelands, for your failed government will no longer be able to protect you.”
Washington had been waging a war against Yemen without congressional approval since January 2023, hoping to stop the pro-Palestine operations of the YAF.
Despite bombing the country thousands of times and deploying multiple carrier strike groups to West Asian waters, the US was unable to deter YAF attacks and lost approximately two dozen advanced MQ-9 Reaper drones over the Arab world’s poorest country.
“We favor a diplomatic solution. We know that there is no military solution,” US Special Envoy for Yemen Timothy Lenderking said last year.
Pentagon officials in recent months also raised concerns about the ballooning cost of the war and the rapid depletion of Washington’s long-range precision munitions.
