Within hours of Donald Trump winning the US election a Houthi spokesman announced the ‘complete cessation’ of the group’s operations in international waters.
There is no evidence the Houthis have made any statements about stopping operations.
There’s no evidence that a Houthi spokesman announced the “complete cessation” of the group’s operations in international waters in the hours after Donald Trump was declared the winner of the US presidential election.
One post on X, which has been viewed more than two million times, says (when translated from Arabic using Google): “Houthi spokesman: Our operations in international waters were only defensive, and we announce their final cessation.”
It has been screenshotted and included in posts by other accounts on X as well as Facebook and Threads, some including the caption: “Trump Has Just Been President Elect For A Few Hours & The Terrorist Houthi Spokesman Has Issued A Statement Ceasing Terror Operations On High Seas."
But there is no evidence the Houthis, an Iran-backed rebel group in Yemen, have stopped their operations in the Red Sea. Credible reporting from the region does not mention any such statement or a ceasefire. In the last few hours, the group has reportedly shot down a US drone and has taken responsibility for a ballistic missile attack on an airbase in southern Israel.
A statement by the Houthi leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, posted on 7 November, after Mr Trump won the US election said (translated from Arabic by Google): “Our operations continue in the seas and deep in the occupied territories, with a decision to deal with the camouflage operations of Israeli ships.”
The Houthis have repeatedly targeted commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November 2023, in action they say is in retaliation for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. It’s unclear exactly how many attacks there have been, with figures ranging between 130 and 190, but at least four sailors have been killed.
Full Fact has also contacted the Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree about rumours of the group’s surrender after Mr Trump’s election victory, and will update this article if we receive a response.
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This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because there is no evidence the Houthis have made any statements about stopping operations after Donald Trump’s election victory.
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