Trump halts US attacks on Yemen as Israel pummels airport in reprisal against Houthis

Israel was reportedly given no advance notice of Trump’s surprise announcement that the Houthis had ‘capitulated’ after the near-daily, seven-week bombing campaign.

Yemenis watch as smoke billows following Israeli airstrikes targeting a power plant and Sanaa Airport, in Sanaa, Yemen on Tuesday. Picture: AP

Israel was reportedly given no warning of Donald Trump’s surprise announcement on Wednesday (AEST) that the United States would end its attacks against Yemen’s Houthis, with the US President saying the rebels had agreed to stop harassing ships in the Red Sea.

In comments at the White House, Mr 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 Houthi figures.

“The Houthi's have announced... that they don’t want to fight anymore. They just don’t want to fight,” Mr 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,” Mr Trump said, adding that the information came from a “very, very good source.”

However Israeli media reports that Jerusalem had no advance notice of the announcement, while the Houthis vowed to keep attacking Israel.

The head of Yemen’s Houthi Supreme Political Council, Mahdi al-Mashat suggested that the ceasefire was limited to its attacks on shipping in the Red Sea where the Iran-backed group has been firing missiles and drones at ships during the Israel-Hamas war.

Mr Mashat told Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV Israelis should “remain in shelters because their government will not be able to protect them,”

Mr 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 Houthi 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 Houthi's’ stronghold, on April 28, the rebels said.

The Pentagon said last week that US strikes had hit more than 1000 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 Houthi 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 Houthi 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 Houthi's’ 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,

Yemenis brandish traditional daggers and rifles during a rally in condemnation of Israel and the US, in the Houthi-run capital Sanaa last week. Picture: AFP

Israel’s military urged Yemeni civilians to “immediately” evacuate the airport and “stay away from the area” in an Arabic post on X.

The Houthis 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 Houthi 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 Houthi 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 Houthi's. It offers a regular service to Jordan on the home-grown Yemenia airline.

AFP