Imran Khali
There’s something rather jarring — though not entirely unfamiliar — about a U.S. president lauding the bravery of a force his military has just spent weeks trying to pulverize. But such is the diplomatic theatre of Donald Trump, who earlier this month praised Yemen’s Houthi fighters for their “great capacity to withstand punishment” even as he announced an unexpected ceasefire agreement with the group.
A pact brokered through Omani mediation, the deal appears on its face to pause the dramatic escalation of U.S. military strikes and Houthi maritime assaults in the Red Sea. The big question, however, is whether this ceasefire is anything more than a tactical timeout in a war that now radiates well beyond Yemen’s borders.
For nearly a decade, the Houthis have not just survived but entrenched themselves in Yemen’s northern highlands, fending off a combined Saudi-Emirati blitzkrieg backed — militarily and politically — by Washington. In this latest chapter, it was Operation Rough Rider, a costly American campaign initiated in mid-March, that aimed to dislodge or at least deter the Iran-backed movement from targeting international shipping and American naval assets. The result? Seven downed U.S. drones, two lost fighter jets, over $1 billion sunk into the sand — and no discernible strategic gain.
So, Trump pulled the plug. Not with the grace of strategic recalibration, but with a bluntness that makes his transactional worldview painfully clear. The Houthis, he declared, had earned a chance. Translation: They withstood the barrage; we’ve run out of options. But this so-called ceasefire is already a study in contradiction. For starters, it notably excludes Israel — a fact that has not only rattled Tel Aviv but exposed a fissure in the traditional U.S.-Israel axis.
The Houthis, emboldened by what they frame as a David-versus-Goliath triumph, have vowed to continue their missile and drone campaigns against Israeli targets in “solidarity with Palestine.” Days before the ceasefire, Houthi rockets reached the outskirts of Ben Gurion Airport. Israel’s response — striking Sanaa International Airport — did little to dull the group’s resolve.
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