Trump halts US attacks on Yemen as Israel hits airport
President Donald Trump abruptly announced that the United States would end its attacks against Yemen's Huthis on Tuesday, saying the rebels had agreed to stop harassing ships in the Red Sea.
In surprise comments at the White House, Trump said the Iran-backed rebels had "capitulated" after the near-daily, seven-week US bombing campaign that left 300 dead, according to an AFP tally of Huthi figures.
There was no official comment from the Huthis, who have been firing missiles and drones at ships on the vital trade artery during the Israel-Hamas war, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.
"The Huthis have announced... that they don't want to fight anymore. They just don't want to fight," Trump said during a White House press appearance with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
"And we will honor that, and we will stop the bombings, and they have capitulated," he added.
"They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore, and that's... the purpose of what we were doing," the US president said, adding that the information came from a "very, very good source."
Trump's comments came just hours after Israeli warplanes put rebel-held Sanaa's international airport out of action in a series of raids that killed three.
The American attacks, launched from two aircraft carriers stationed for the purpose, included strikes on the Ras Issa fuel terminal that killed 80 people on April 18, according to Huthi media.
Fifty-three died on the first night of bombing on March 15, and 68 were killed at a facility housing African migrants in Saada, the Huthis' stronghold, on April 28, the rebels said.
The Pentagon said last week that US strikes had hit more than 1,000 targets in Yemen since mid-March in an operation that has been dubbed "Rough Rider."
- 'Completely destroyed' -
Tuesday's Israeli strikes "completely destroyed" Yemen's Sanaa airport on Tuesday, an official said, and also targeted power stations and a cement factory.
"Three planes out of seven belonging to Yemenia Airlines were destroyed at Sanaa airport, and Sanaa International Airport was completely destroyed," the official said.
Israel's military said "fighter jets struck and dismantled Huthi terrorist infrastructure at the main airport in Sanaa, fully disabling the airport."
"Flight runways, aircraft and infrastructure at the airport were struck," a statement said.
The Israeli strikes, in retaliation for a Huthi missile that gouged a crater at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday, also killed four people on Monday.
On Tuesday, plumes of thick, black smoke were seen billowing from the airport. Residents reported power cuts in Sanaa and Hodeida after the Israelis also struck three electricity stations in and around the capital.
"I was sleeping at home when 15 missiles were fired at us," said Abdallah, a 27-year-old student from Sanaa, who did not want to give his family name.
"I swear, I felt like the roof of the house had caved in. It was scary."
One person was killed at the airport and two others at a power station in Sanaa, the Huthis' Saba news agency said, citing the health ministry. Another 35 were wounded, Saba said.
- Children's 'fear and terror' -
"Our children are terrified," said Umm Abdallah, a 35-year-old Sanaa resident, after Tuesday's attacks.
"They are afraid to go to the bathroom or eat because of the strikes. I mean, they cuddled up next to me because of the fear and terror they felt."
Just before Tuesday's attacks, Israel's military urged Yemeni civilians to "immediately" evacuate the airport and "stay away from the area" in an Arabic post on X.
The Huthis promised to hit back after the attack.
The "aggression will not pass without a response and Yemen will not be discouraged from its stance in support of Gaza", the Huthi political bureau said in a statement.
Regional tensions have soared again this week over Israel's plan to expand military operations in the Gaza Strip and displace much of the besieged territory's population.
Hans Grundberg, the United Nations' special envoy for Yemen, called the exchange of strikes between Yemen and Israel "a grave escalation in an already fragile and volatile regional context."
Israel says it has targeted Yemen five times since July 2024, with Huthi authorities reporting a total of 29 people killed. Israel's army regularly intercepts missiles from Yemen.
The airport reopened to international flights in 2022 after a six-year blockade by the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Huthis. It offers a regular service to Jordan on the home-grown Yemenia airline.
H.Harris--PI
