President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the United States will stop bombing the Houthis after the terrorist group conveyed they will stop attacks on American ships.
Trump revealed the major development during an Oval Office meeting with recently elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“We had some very good news last night. The Houthis have announced that they are not — or they’ve announced to us, at least — that they don’t want to fight anymore. They just don’t want to fight, and we will honor that,” Trump said.
“And we will stop the bombings, and they have capitulated, but more importantly… we will take their word. They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore, and that’s what the purpose of what we were doing,” he added.
The announcement comes after Israel carried out massive airstrikes in Yemen’s capital city of Sana’a on Monday, destroying the country’s main airport. Israel’s airstrikes were in response to a Houthi missile strike on Sunday that hit Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel.
Al Mayadeen, an outlet linked to the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah, notably boasted of Houthi attacks on U.S vessels in an article entitled “Ansar Allah triumphant: US facing Red Sea defeat again” just days before the sudden agreement Trump announced Tuesday. Ansar Allah or “Ansarullah” is another moniker for the Houthis.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed Trump during the Oval Office meeting, saying the U.S. will halt bombings so long as Houthi attacks on ships end.
“This was always a freedom of navigation issue,” Rubio said. “These guys–these are… a band of individuals with advanced weaponry that were threatening global shipping, and the job was to get that to stop, and if it’s going to stop, then we can stop. So I think it’s an important development.”
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