US, Yemen's Huthis agree ceasefire: mediator Oman

US, Yemen's Huthis agree ceasefire: mediator Oman

Israel's military says its strike took the Sanna airport 'fully' out of action

The United States and Yemen's Huthis have reached a ceasefire agreement, mediators announced Tuesday, saying the deal would ensure "freedom of navigation" in the Red Sea where the Iran-backed rebels have attacked shipping for months.

The agreement comes after President Donald Trump announced that the United States would end attacks against the Huthis after the rebels agreed to stop harassing ships, though he made no direct mention of recent attacks on ally Israel.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said that "following recent discussions and contacts... with the aim of de-escalation, efforts have resulted in a ceasefire agreement between the two sides".

"Neither side will target the other... ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping" in the Red Sea, he added in a statement.

At the White House, Trump said the rebels had "capitulated" after a seven-week US bombing campaign that left 300 dead, according to an AFP tally of Huthi figures.

The rebels' political leader Mahdi al-Mashar did not comment on the accord but promised a "painful" response to deadly Israeli strikes in retaliation for missile fire at Israel's main airport.

Huthi spokesman Mohammed Abdelsalam told the rebels' Al-Massirah television channel that any US actions would garner a response. "If the American enemy resumes its attacks we will resume our strikes," he said. 

"The real guarantee for the accord is the dark experience that the United States has had in Yemen," he added.

Mashar said in his statement that attacks on Israel "will continue" and go "beyond what the Israeli enemy can withstand".

Huthi rebels have been firing missiles and drones at Israel and ships on the vital Red Sea during the Israel-Hamas war since late 2023, 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 told a White House press appearance alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

"And we will honour 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," Trump said.

His comments came just hours after Israeli warplanes put rebel-held Sanaa's international airport out of action in raids that killed three people, according to the Huthis.

The US Defence Department said last week that US strikes had hit more than 1,000 targets in Yemen since mid-March.

- 'Completely destroyed' -

Tuesday's Israeli strikes "completely destroyed" Yemen's Sanaa airport, an airport official said, and also targeted power stations and a cement factory.

Israel's military said "fighter jets struck and dismantled Huthi terrorist infrastructure at the main airport in Sanaa, fully disabling the airport".

The strikes came after a Huthi missile gouged a crater near Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport on Sunday. 

Plumes of thick, black smoke were seen billowing from Sanaa airport. Residents reported power cuts 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.

- 'Fear and terror' -

"Our children are terrified," said Umm Abdallah, a 35-year-old Sanaa resident. 

"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 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 UN special envoy for Yemen, called the attacks in 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. Huthi authorities have reported a total of 29 people killed. Israel's army regularly intercepts missiles from Yemen.

Sanaa airport reopened to international flights in 2022 after a six-year blockade by a Saudi-led coalition fighting the Huthis. It offers a regular service to Jordan on the national Yemenia airline. 

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Originally published as US, Yemen's Huthis agree ceasefire: mediator Oman