President Donald Trump stated that Yemen’s Houthi rebels are now seeking peace after enduring more than a week of US airstrikes, which he described as “very, very strong.”
“The Houthis are looking to do something. They want to know, ‘How do we stop? How do we stop? How can we have peace?’ The Houthis want peace because they’re getting the hell knocked out of them,” Trump shared with reporters in the Oval Office.
“The Houthis are dying for peace. They don’t want this… They were knocking ships out of the ocean…. In the Suez Canal, they only have about 20% of the ships going through. They have to go through a different way, which takes weeks of travel, and that really affects commerce.”
Trump emphasized that the Houthis have been severely affected by the US airstrikes and are now ready to negotiate. “But the Houthis have been hit hard, and they want to negotiate peace,” he said. “The Houthis have been horrible to the world. They’ve killed a lot of people and knocked out a lot of ships and planes and anything else… They have been hit harder than they have ever been.”
On March 15, Washington announced its military action against the Houthis, pledging to use overwhelming force until the Iran-backed group ceased its attacks on vessels in the crucial shipping lanes of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
That day saw a series of US airstrikes, which officials reported killed senior Houthi leaders, while the rebels’ health ministry stated that 53 people were killed in the attacks.
Since then, Houthi-controlled regions of Yemen have experienced near-daily bombardment, with the group blaming the United States for the strikes. The rebels have declared they are targeting US military ships and Israel.
The Houthis began attacking shipping vessels after the outbreak of the Gaza war, which was triggered by Hamas’s assault on Israel, expressing solidarity with the Palestinians. However, they paused their attacks when a ceasefire was implemented in January.
Earlier this month, the Houthis warned they might resume attacks on vital maritime routes after Israel halted aid to the Gaza Strip, prompting the first US strikes on Yemen since Trump assumed office in January.
Last week, Trump warned of total destruction for the Houthis and cautioned Iran against continuing its support for the rebel group.
In his statements on Wednesday, Trump suggested the US airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen could continue for a prolonged period.
“They want us to stop so badly… They’ve got to say, ‘No mas.’ But I can only say that the attacks every day, every night… have been very successful beyond our wildest expectations… We’re going to do it for a long time. We can keep it going for a long time,” he explained.
His comments came as Houthi media reported new US airstrikes on the rebel-held capital of Sanaa, following earlier reports of 19 US raids targeting other locations across Yemen.
“A series of strikes by the US aggression have hit the south and north of the capital,” Al-Masirah, the Houthi-run channel, reported, but did not provide further details.
{Matzav.com}

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