Donald Trump said the US would stop attacking the Houthis in Yemen because the group had "capitulated", as Oman confirmed a "ceasefire" had been reached with the Iran-backed group for it to stop targeting shipping in the Red Sea.

"[The Houthis] just don't want to fight, and we will honour that and we will stop the bombings, and they have capitulated," he said, speaking alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the White House.

Shortly afterwards the Omani foreign minister posted that the deal meant neither side would target the other, "ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping".

The Houthis have yet to comment.

The US stepped up air strikes on the Houthis in March and the US military says it has struck 1,000 targets in Yemen since then.

Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said the Houthis would "not be blowing up ships anymore".

"The Houthis have announced that they are not, or they announced to us at least, that they don't want to fight anymore... but, more importantly, we will take their word.

"They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore and that's what the purpose of what we were doing... so that's just news we just found out about that."

Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi said his country had mediated efforts to achieve de-escalation.

"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.

The Houthis began attacking shipping passing through the Red Sea in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, who have been under bombardment by the Israeli military since the Palestinian armed group Hamas attacked Israeli communities in October 2023.

They have launched dozens of missile and drone attacks on commercial ships, sinking two vessels, seizing a third and killing four crew members. The attacks forced even major shipping companies to stop using the Red Sea - through which almost 15% of global seaborne trade usually passes - and to take a much longer route around southern Africa instead.

US-led naval forces thwarted many Houthi attacks on shipping and former US president Joe Biden began US air strikes against the Houthis, which have intensified under Trump.

Last month, the Houthis said at least 68 African migrants were killed in a US air strike on a detention centre in north-western Yemen.

The Houthis have continued firing missiles towards Israel, with one missile landing near Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv on Sunday.

On Tuesday Israel responded with a large-scale attack on Yemen's main international airport in the capital Sanaa, which left it "completely destroyed" according to an airport official quoted by AFP.

Other Israeli strikes hit power facilities and a cement factory. On Monday Israel bombed port facilities in Hudaydah and another cement factory in the city.

A senior Houthi official has rejected US President Donald Trump's claim the Yemeni armed group "capitulated" when agreeing a ceasefire deal, saying the US "backed down" instead.

"What changed is the American position, but our position remains firm," chief negotiator Mohammed Abdul Salam told Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV.

Mediator Oman said the US and Houthis had agreed to "no longer target each other", after seven weeks of intensified US strikes on Yemen in response to Houthi missile and drone attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea.

Abdul Salam also said the deal did not include an end to attacks on Israel, which has conducted two rounds of retaliatory strikes on Yemen this week.

The Houthis' support for the Palestinian people in Gaza "will not change", he added.

The Iran-backed group has controlled much of north-western Yemen since 2014, when they ousted the internationally-recognised government from the capital, Sanaa, and sparked a devastating civil war.

Since November 2023, the Houthis have targeted dozens of merchant vessels with missiles, drones and small boat attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. They have sunk two vessels, seized a third, and killed four crew members.

They have said they are acting in support of the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and have claimed - often falsely - that they are targeting ships only linked to Israel, the US or the UK.

The Houthis were not deterred by the deployment of Western warships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to protect merchant vessels last year, or by multiple rounds of US strikes on military targets ordered by former President Joe Biden.

On 15 March, Trump ordered an intensification of the air campaign against the Houthis and threatened that they would be "completely annihilated".

At the end of April, the US military said it had struck more than 800 targets, including command-and-control facilities, air defence systems and advanced weapons manufacturing and storage facilities. It also said the strikes had killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and "numerous Houthi leaders", without naming them.

Houthi-run authorities have said the strikes have killed dozens of civilians, but they have reported few casualties among the group's members.

At the White House on Tuesday, Trump announced that the Houthis had said they "don't want to fight anymore".

"They just don't want to fight, and we will honour that and we will stop the bombings, and they have capitulated," he said. "But, more importantly, we will take their word."

"They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore and that's what the purpose of what we were doing."

Later, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi wrote on X: "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."

On Wednesday, Mohammed Abdul Salam said Trump's remarks were "a reflection of Washington's frustration after failing to protect Israeli ships and contain the fallout of its involvement".

He also told Reuters news agency that the "the agreement does not include Israel in any way, shape or form".

Israel has also carried out air strikes against the Houthis since July 2024 in response to hundreds of missiles and drones that the Israeli military says have been launched at the country from Yemen.

Most of them have been shot down, but on Sunday a Houthi missile landed near Israel's main international airport, Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion, leaving six people with minor injuries.

The attack has prompted Israel to carry out two rounds of air strikes on what the military called "Houthi terrorist infrastructure".

The first on Monday targeted the Red Sea port of Hudaydah, reportedly destroying docks, warehouses and the customs area. The Houthi-run government's health ministry said four people were killed.

On Tuesday, Israeli jets bombed Yemen's main airport in Sanaa and several power stations.

Sources told Reuters that the runway, three aircraft, the departures hall and a military base were destroyed. Three people were killed, according to the health ministry.

"I have said many times that whoever attacks the State of Israel will pay the price," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.