U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday the U.S. will stop bombing the Houthis in Yemen, saying that the Iran-aligned group had agreed to stop interrupting important shipping lanes in the Middle East.
The U.S. intensified strikes on Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis this year, to stop attacks on Red Sea shipping. Rights activists have raised concerns over civilian casualties.
In an Oval Office meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump announced the Houthis have said they no longer want to fight.
“They said please don’t bomb us any more and we’re not going to attack your ships,” Trump said. “And I will accept their word, and we are going to stop the bombing of the Houthis effective immediately.”
There was no immediate response from the Houthis.
The Houthis have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea since Israel began its military offensive against Hamas in Gaza after the Palestinian militant group’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Trump said Washington will take the Houthis’ word that they would not be blowing up ships any longer.
news/zg63tbqeoy-upivcll9ff/2025-04-28T073244Z_1_LWD974628042025RP1_RTRWNEV_C_9746-USA-YEMEN-STRIKES-DETENTION-CENTRE-AFTERMATH.MP4.00_00_09_07.Still001.jpg?w=1040&quality=70&strip=all” loading=”lazy” srcset=”” sizes=”auto, ” data-srcset=”https://i1.wp.com/media.globalnews.ca/videostatic/news/zg63tbqeoy-upivcll9ff/2025-04-28T073244Z_1_LWD974628042025RP1_RTRWNEV_C_9746-USA-YEMEN-STRIKES-DETENTION-CENTRE-AFTERMATH.MP4.00_00_09_07.Still001.jpg?w=450#038;quality=70&strip=all 450w,https://i1.wp.com/media.globalnews.ca/videostatic/news/zg63tbqeoy-upivcll9ff/2025-04-28T073244Z_1_LWD974628042025RP1_RTRWNEV_C_9746-USA-YEMEN-STRIKES-DETENTION-CENTRE-AFTERMATH.MP4.00_00_09_07.Still001.jpg?w=720#038;quality=70&strip=all 720w,https://i1.wp.com/media.globalnews.ca/videostatic/news/zg63tbqeoy-upivcll9ff/2025-04-28T073244Z_1_LWD974628042025RP1_RTRWNEV_C_9746-USA-YEMEN-STRIKES-DETENTION-CENTRE-AFTERMATH.MP4.00_00_09_07.Still001.jpg?w=1040#038;quality=70&strip=all 1040w,” data-sizes=”(min-width: 1040px) 1040px,(min-width: 720px) 720px,450px”/>The U.S. military has said it has struck more than 1,000 targets since its current operation in Yemen, known as Operation Rough Rider, started on March 15. The strikes, the U.S. military said, have killed “hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders.”
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Tensions have been high since the Gaza war began, but have risen further since a Houthi missile landed near Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday, prompting Israeli airstrikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah port on Monday.
The Israeli military carried out an airstrike on Yemen’s main airport in Sanaa on Tuesday, its second attack in two days on Iran-aligned Houthi rebels after a surge in tensions between the group and Israel.
Under former President Joe Biden’s administration, the U.S. and Britain retaliated with air strikes against Houthi targets in an effort to keep open the crucial Red Sea trading route – the path for about 15% of global shipping traffic.
After Trump became U.S. president in January, he decided to significantly intensify air strikes against the Houthis. The campaign came after the Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli ships passing through the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden.
On April 28, a suspected U.S. airstrike hits a migrant center in Yemen, and Houthi TV says 68 people were killed in one of the deadliest attacks in six weeks of intensified U.S. strikes.