Updates with details throughout, including Houthi response.
President Donald Trump said today he will end the US military campaign against Yemen's Houthis, claiming that the militant group pledged to stop attacks on commercial ships passing through the Red Sea.
The Houthis reached out with a request to stop the US bombing campaign, and the US will do so immediately, Trump told reporters at the beginning of his meeting with Canada's prime minister Mark Carney on Tuesday.
"They don't want to fight anymore," Trump said. "They have capitulated ... And I will accept their word, and we are going to stop the bombing of the Houthis effective immediately."
US secretary of state Marco Rubio, who also attended the meeting with Carney, added that if the Houthi attacks "are going to stop, then we can stop."
Oman mediated a ceasefire agreement between the US and the Houthis, Oman's foreign minister Badr Albusaidi said in a social media post following Trump's remarks. "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."
It was not clear from Albusaidi's statement whether the Houthis committed to stop their attacks on all vessels passing near Yemen's coastline.
The Houthis claimed in late 2023 that, out of solidarity with Gaza's Palestinian population, they would attack any ship that was owned by an Israeli company or made calls at an Israeli port. But the Houthi attacks were indiscriminate, effectively crippling the regular passage of oil, LNG and other commercial vessel traffic through Red Sea waterways.
The militant group paused its attacks on commercial shipping following the ceasefire in Gaza in January, but resumed them in March, after Israel stopped allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The Houthis also launched attacks against Israel, drawing retaliatory strikes by the Israeli Air Force, and on US naval vessels in the Red Sea.
There was no explicit confirmation of a ceasefire from Houthi-controlled information outlets. A Houthi spokesman reposted a social media post suggesting that "America stopped its aggression in Yemen" and that "the one who retreated is America." Another media channel used by the group said that "the Israeli and American aggression will not pass without a response and will not deter Yemen from continuing its position in support of Gaza".
US president Donald Trump's administration listed its military campaign against Yemen-based Houthis, which began on 15 March, as a key foreign policy accomplishment in his first 100 days in office even though the militant group continued to launch missile and drone attacks — most recently on 4 May against Israel's main airport.
Israel responded to the 4 May attack with air strikes on Yemen's port of Hodeidah and, today, on the main airport in Yemen's capital Sanaa.
Israel also vowed to retaliate against Tehran, which is the main provider of weapons to the Houthis.
The US separately warned Iran to discontinue its military support for the Yemeni militant group. The Trump administration is engaged in talks with Iran to address Tehran's nuclear program, with Iranian officials hoping to use the diplomatic negotiations to press for relief of oil and other sanctions against Iran.
Trump said he will visit Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar next week and is widely expected to also visit Israel on the same trip.
"Before then, we're going to have a very, very big announcement to make, like, as big as it gets, and I won't tell you on what," Trump said. "But it will be one of the most important announcements that have been made in many years about a certain subject, very important subject."
By Haik Gugarats, Nader Itayim and Bachar Halabi
