This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
US President Donald Trump said on May 6 that he’s ordering a halt to US air strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen after the Iran-backed group agreed to stop attacking ships on important shipping routes in the Middle East.
“We’re going to stop the bombing of the Houthis, effective immediately,” Trump said at the start of a meeting at the White House with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
After Trump made the announcement, Oman said it had mediated the cease-fire, and confirmed that the US campaign was ending.
“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 said on X, calling the agreement a “welcome outcome.”
The United States launched a campaign of air strikes in March, and Trump promised to use “overwhelming lethal force.”
That came after the Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli vessels sailing off Yemen in response to Israel’s mounting another blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Trump said on May 6 that the Houthis had indicated to US officials that “they don’t want to fight anymore. They just don’t want to fight. And we will honor that, and we will stop the bombings.”
He said the announcement means the Houthis “will not be blowing up ships anymore.”
The Houthis have been firing at shipping in the Red Sea and at Israel since Israel began its military offensive in Gaza against Hamas, which has been designated by the United States and the EU as a terrorist organization, after the Palestinian militant group launched a deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The statement from Oman did not mention whether the Houthis had agreed to stop attacks on Israel.
The head of Yemen’s Houthi Supreme Political Council, Mahdi al-Mashat, said the group would continue to support Gaza.
Separately, the head of Yemen’s Houthi supreme revolutionary committee, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, said on X that the US halt of “aggression” against Yemen would be evaluated.
Israel’s military on May 6 launched air strikes against the Houthis that it said fully disabled the international airport in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. Israel’s attacks were in retaliation for a Houthi missile strike on May 4 on Israel’s international airport.
Gregory Brew, a senior analyst with the Eurasia Group risk-analysis firm, said on X that the Houthis have not fired on a commercial ship since December.
“They are likely, however, to continue shooting at Israel,” Brew said.
From November 2023 until January 2025, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones. That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually.
