US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced the US would stop bombing the Houthis in Yemen, saying that the Iran-aligned group had agreed to stop interrupting important shipping lanes in the Middle East.
After Trump’s announcement, Oman said it had mediated the ceasefire deal, marking a major shift in Houthi policy since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023.
Under the agreement, neither the US nor the Houthis would target the other, including US vessels in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, Oman said in a statement.
Photo: Reuters
No Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea area have been reported since January.
However, the group yesterday said the ceasefire with the US does not include Israel, suggesting shipping attacks that disrupted global trade would not come to a complete halt.
That statement followed the Israeli military’s bombing of the Sana’a airport, where it claimed to have disabled the airfield in an attack that left commercial aircraft burning on the tarmac as its fighter jets struck power plants and other targets.
“The agreement does not include Israel in any way, shape or form,” said Mohammed Abdulsalam, the chief Houthi negotiator.
Yemen’s Houthi Supreme Political Council head Mahdi al-Mashat said the group would continue to support Gaza and that such attacks would continue.
Israel’s attack on the airport in Yemen’s capital destroyed terminal buildings and caused US$500 million in damage, airport general director Khaled al-Shaief told the rebels’ al-Masirah television yesterday.
He earlier wrote on X that the airport was suspending all flights until further notice after sustaining “severe damage.”
The rare daytime strikes came after a Houthi missile gouged a crater near Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport on Sunday.
Yemenia Airways lost three planes, al-Shaief said, adding that six planes in total had been destroyed.
Separately, an F/A-18 fighter jet landing on the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier in the Red Sea went overboard, forcing its two pilots to eject, a defense official said yesterday.
The incident on Tuesday marks the latest mishap to mar the deployment of the Truman, which has been essential in the US’ airstrike campaign against Houthi rebels.
The F/A-18 Super Hornet landed on the Truman after a flight, but “the arrestment failed,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly about the incident now under investigation.
“Arrestment” refers to the hook system used by aircraft landing on carriers, which catches steel wire ropes on the flight deck. It remains unclear what part of the system failed.
The two pilots on board the US$60 million aircraft were rescued by a helicopter and sustained minor injuries in the incident, the official added. No one on the flight deck was hurt.
Last month, another F/A-18 fighter jet slipped off the hangar deck of the Truman and fell into the Red Sea. The crew members who were in the pilot seat of the Super Hornet and on the small towing tractor both jumped away.
Additional reporting by AP and AFP
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