The United States and Houthis in Yemen reached a deal to halt U.S. airstrikes against the group after the Iranian-backed militants agreed to cease attacks against American vessels in the Red Sea, President Donald Trump and Omani mediators said Tuesday.

However, Israel’s military on Tuesday launched more of its own airstrikes against the Houthi rebels that it said fully disabled the international airport in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

Israel’s attacks Tuesday were its second round of airstrikes in as many days launched on targets in Yemen in retaliation for a Houthi missile strike Sunday on Israel’s international airport.

The Houthis’ satellite news channel al-Masirah confirmed that the airport in Sanaa was hit on Tuesday. Several power plants also were struck, Israel’s military said. Israeli television aired footage showing black plumes of smoke rising above the Sanaa skyline.

Three people were killed and 38 wounded, according to the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency, which quoted health officials.

Trump’s surprise announcement

In Washington, Trump broke the news of the truce during an unrelated Oval Office meeting with Canada’s prime minister, surprising even his own Pentagon officials.

“They just don’t want to fight,” Trump said. “And we will honor that and we will stop the bombings. They have capitulated, but more importantly, we will take their word. They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore.”

But despite his claim of success, it remained unclear whether the United States had achieved its objective of stopping the Houthis from impeding international shipping after a costly seven-week bombing campaign.

The Houthis themselves stopped short of declaring a full ceasefire, saying that they would continue to fight Israel. And Houthi officials and supporters swiftly portrayed the deal as a major victory for the militia and a failure for Trump, spreading a social media hashtag that read “Yemen defeats America.”

Red Sea attacks

For more than a year, the Houthis have been firing projectiles and launching drones at commercial and military ships in the Red Sea in what the militia group has described as a show of solidarity with Gaza Strip residents and with Hamas, the militant group controlling the Palestinian territory. Geographically and strategically, Yemen sits at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, a narrow straight through which ships must pass en route between Europe and through the Suez Canal. It is about 1,400 miles south of Israel.

In mid-March, the United States began striking hundreds of targets to try to reopen international shipping lanes. The campaign has cost well over $1 billion, congressional officials said they learned in closed-door briefings with Pentagon officials last month. The rate of munitions used in the campaign has caused concern among some U.S. military strategists, who are worried it could undermine readiness for a potential conflict with China.

After Trump unexpectedly broke the news of the deal between the Houthis and the United States, Oman’s foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, said his country had mediated the agreement.

“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,” he said in a statement on social media.

For his part, Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti, a senior Houthi politician, said that if the United States halted its attacks on Yemen, the Houthis would halt their attacks on a smaller group: “American military fleets and interests.”

However, Al-Bukhaiti said the Houthis would continue military operations until Israel lifted its siege on Gaza, “no matter the sacrifices, even if we have to fight until Judgment Day.”

His statement also left unclear whether the Houthis would stop attacking other vessels in the crucial shipping lane.

Conflict with Israel

Mahdi al-Mashat, another senior Houthi official, made clear the group intended to retaliate against Israel for its bombing of the main international airport in Yemen on Tuesday. Al-Mashat said the response from the Houthis would be “earth-shattering, painful, and beyond the capability of the Israeli and American enemy to bear.”

Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, a senior member of the group, also described Trump’s announcement as a “victory” for the Houthis, implying in a social media post that the agreement meant that the United States was no longer supporting Israel’s battle against the Houthis.

The U.S. Central Command, responsible for operations against the Houthis, referred questions about the agreement to the White House. The White House declined to elaborate on Trump’s remarks or respond to inquiries about what the administration would do if the Houthis continued strikes against Israeli vessels.

Iran’s role

Two Iranian officials said Tuesday that Iran used its influence with the Houthis as part of Oman’s effort to broker a ceasefire and get them to stop firing on U.S. ships. The officials, one in the Foreign Ministry and one with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The Houthis receive weapons and funding from Iran, and are part of a network of what is regionally known as Iran’s axis of resistance. A recent social media post by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth threatened action on Iran over Houthi attacks on American ships.

For the past few weeks, Iranian officials have publicly distanced themselves from the Houthis, saying that Iran has no control over the group and that their actions are a response to the war in Gaza. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in mid-March that “Houthis act independently based on their own interests and personal views,” and denied that Iran had any proxy militia in the region.

Israeli attack

Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said the strike should be seen as a warning to the “head of the Iranian octopus,” which he said bears direct responsibility for attacks by the Houthis against Israel.

Sunday’s missile attack struck an access road near Israel’s main airport near Tel Aviv, briefly halting flights and commuter traffic. Four people were slightly injured. It was the first time a missile struck the grounds of Ben Gurion airport since the October 2023 start of the war in Gaza. While most missiles launched by the Houthis have been intercepted, some have penetrated Israel’s missile defense systems, causing damage.

On Monday, Israel targeted Houthi rebels in Yemen’s Red Sea province of Hodeida, killing at least one person and wounding 35.

This report contains information from the Associated Press.