By Chris Menahan – Information Liberation
President Trump on Wednesday gave kudos to the Houthis in Yemen for their “bravery” in withstanding his bombing campaign and confirmed the US has agreed to a ceasefire.
From India Today, “Trump says Houthis showed ‘bravery’ and ‘commitment’ after ceasefire deal”:
Speaking at the White House, Trump said, “You know, we hit them very hard. They had a great capacity to withstand punishment. They took tremendous punishment. You can say there’s a lot of bravery there. It was amazing what they took. But we honour their commitment and their word.”
This came just a day after Trump said the US would stop its bombing campaign against Houthis in Yemen after a ceasefire was facilitated by Oman.
[…] In response, the Houthis also confirmed they have reached an agreement with the United States to pause attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea, in exchange for a pause in US airstrikes on Houthi locations in Yemen.Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdul-Salam added that the ceasefire with the US has “no connection with our stance on supporting Gaza.”
America has been bombing Houthi targets since March, inflicting damage to make the terror masters of Iran nervous about support for their Yemeni proxy.
The White House and US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth then reposted Omani foreign minister Badr Albusaidi’s statement on X which stated that his government had brokered a ceasefire between the US and the Houthis.
“In the future, neither side will target the other, including American vessels, in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping,” the minister said in the post.
“With Trump announcing a halt to the American aggression against Yemen, it will be evaluated on the ground first,” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a senior member of the Ansar Allah-led Supreme Political Council, said Tuesday on X, Newsweek reported. “It is a victory that separates American support for the temporary entity and a failure for Netanyahu, who must resign.”
“The operations in Yemen were and remain support for Gaza to stop the aggression and allow the entry of aid,” al-Houthi added. “The leader announced this after the four-day deadline. The armed forces’ statements emphasized in their statements that their operations against American warships were a response to the American aggression aimed at halting Yemen’s support for Gaza.”
As I reported on Tuesday, the US-Yemen deal included zero provisions for Israel’s security.
“The agreement does not include Israel in any way, shape or form,” Mohammed Abdul-Salam told Reuters on Wednesday.
“As long as they announced the cessation (of U.S. strikes) and they are actually committed to that, our position was self-defence so we will stop.”