Yemen Monitor / Sana’a / Exclusive:
Two spokespersons for Yemen’s Houthi group on Tuesday denied U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims that the group had pledged to cease attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
Houthi spokesman Mohammed al-Bukhaiti told Bloomberg that Trump’s statements were “inaccurate,” adding that the group would not stop its attacks on Red Sea vessels, which it says are carried out in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
President Trump had earlier stated that the Houthis had pledged to end their attacks on ships in the Red Sea and that the US would take their word and immediately halt its strikes on the group.
Trump said, “The Houthis say they don’t want to fight and will no longer attack ships. I will take them at their word… and we will stop bombing them immediately.”
Houthi Political Bureau member Dhaifallah al-Shami told an Arab news channel that Trump’s remarks reflect “his attempt to save face following the failure of the U.S. aggression on Yemen.”
He added, “We will not allow any ship—any Israeli ship—to reach its port until the aggression on Gaza ends and the blockade is lifted.”
Later, senior Houthi official Abdul Qader al-Murtadha stated that if the US “chooses to withdraw from the battle,” that would be welcomed, but support for Gaza “will not cease, by sea or by air, until the war stops.”
This comes after Israeli airstrikes earlier today targeted Sana’a International Airport, disabling it in response to a Houthi missile attack on Ben Gurion Airport in central Israel on Sunday.
The strike on Sana’a followed another Israeli attack on Yemen’s western port of Hodaidah on Monday.
The US is conducting a wide-scale military operation against the Houthis, which the group claims has resulted in dozens of casualties.
The Iran-aligned Houthi group has been launching attacks on Red Sea vessels since November 2023 in support of Palestinians in Gaza. These attacks have disrupted global trade.
