Israel “completely destroyed” Yemen’s Sanaa International Airport on Tuesday, delivering a crippling blow to the Iran-backed Houthis who had used the facility to transport weapons and terrorist fighters across the Middle East.
Shortly after the strike, President Donald Trump announced that U.S. military operations against the Houthis will cease after the terror group purportedly agreed to stop their attacks on international shipping lanes and American assets.
Israel’s surprise operation—the largest to date against the Houthis—came in response to a series of missile and drone strikes on the Jewish state, including a Sunday salvo that struck the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, wounding several people. In response, Israel “completely disabled” the Sanaa airport and destroyed a slew of nearby power stations the Houthis were using to build out their military infrastructure. Photos posted earlier on Tuesday showed plumes of thick smoke rising from the airport and nearby areas.
“Three planes out of seven belonging to Yemenia Airlines were destroyed at Sanaa airport, and Sanaa International Airport was completely destroyed,” an airport official told AFP, confirming information from the Israelis indicating that half of the carrier’s fleet was wiped out.
The Israel Defense Forces publicly claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had destroyed the Houthis’ main air hub and a cement factory “used by the group to construct infrastructure and tunnels,” according to the Times of Israel’s military correspondent Emanuel Fabian. The IDF said the Iranian proxy used the airport for “the transfer of weapons and operatives,” noting that it is “regularly operated by the Houthi regime for terrorist purposes.”
Like Hamas and other Iran-backed terror groups, the Houthis used “civilian infrastructure for terrorist operations,” the IDF said when it confirmed the operation.
In the wake of the attack, Trump announced that he had called off ongoing American military strikes on the Houthis, saying an intense U.S. bombing campaign has sapped the terrorist organization’s willingness to engage in combat.
“They don’t want to fight anymore,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We will honor that and we will stop the bombings … [since] they have capitulated.”
Following Trump’s remarks, Oman’s foreign ministry confirmed that the Houthis had agreed to a “ceasefire agreement” with the U.S. after the Gulf state helped push along diplomacy between the two sides.
“In the future, neither side will target the other, including U.S. vessels, in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping,” Oman’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Though the American conflict with the Houthis may ease, the terror group warned that it will continue to target Israel. Houthi Supreme Political Council head Mahdi al-Mashat said operations “to support Gaza” will proceed, suggesting that Israel’s war against the Houthis could escalate amid its parallel operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Al-Mashad said Israelis should “remain in shelters because their government will not be able to protect them,” according to regional media reports.
Trump is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar in the coming days. He promised a “very, very, big” and “positive” development in the region on Tuesday but disclosed no further information.
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