In a striking and surprising turn, US President Donald Trump announced the cessation of US military operations against Yemen, claiming that “the Houthis informed Washington of their intention to stop attacking American ships in the Red Sea.”
However, this statement appeared to be in stark contrast to the official position issued by Sana’a, which reiterated its commitment to continuing military support for Gaza, regardless of the cost, noting that the tripartite aggression (US-UK-Israel) will not deter Yemen from its national and religious duty towards the Palestinian cause.
A number of observers viewed Trump’s announcement as an indirect admission of the United States’ failure to break Sanaa’s will or neutralize it from the Gaza war, particularly after the escalation of Yemeni strikes against US aircraft carriers and military vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Observers believed that Washington “is seeking to avoid a costly confrontation with Yemen, having found itself within range of unconventional missiles and drones, which have disrupted its naval presence and weakened America’s deterrent capability.”
Israeli Channel 12 correspondent Almog Boker commented on Trump’s statement by saying: “In other words, we will have to defend ourselves on our own… America has abandoned us.”
This statement came to confirm the growing state of frustration within Zionist circles over the decline in American commitment to defending the occupying entity on the ground, especially in light of the increasing strikes coming from Sana’a, which affected the Zionist depth in occupied Jaffa (Tel Aviv), Haifa, and Ashkelon, and the imposition of the air blockade on Ben Gurion Airport.
Despite Trump’s announcement, data on the ground confirms that Sana’a has not ceased its operations against Israeli and American targets at sea, amid an expanding target bank and the development of offensive means. This indicates that Sanaa does not rely on media statements, but rather relies on the balance of deterrence it has imposed through ongoing field action.
Analysts point out that the Yemeni response is no longer subject to pressure or airstrikes, but rather is based on a clear equation: “Response to aggression—escalation against escalation—and support for Gaza is a duty that cannot be nullified by the passage of time or by bombing.”
