The news about the U.S.-Houthi ceasefire, unexpectedly announced on May 6, 2025 by U.S. President Donald Trump, sparked considerable criticism in Saudi Arabia, according to an article published by The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
Articles in the Saudi government press condemned the agreement on the grounds that it preserves the Houthis' military capabilities, thus endangering the region and leaving Yemen and its people to an uncertain future.
One writer, added MEMRI’s article, claimed that this "absurd" agreement reflects disregard for the lives of 30 million Yemenis, who have been abandoned to their fate, as well as the "disgraceful" indifference of the world, which values commercial interests over human life. Another Saudi commentator slammed the Houthis, stating that, like other members of the resistance axis, they chose to hold secret talks with the U.S. and to reconcile with it despite all their slogans about liberating Jerusalem and Palestine and supporting the oppressed.
Journalist Hamoud Taleb wrote in the Saudi daily 'Okaz on May 8: "One of the most absurd things that happened recently is the agreement between the U.S. and the Houthis, according to which the latter will stop targeting ships and threatening the vital shipping lane if the Americans stop their massive airstrikes on the Houthi military facilities, weapons depots and military headquarters – attacks that have been going on for a while and which sowed massive destruction in various parts of Yemen.
"The Houthis simply announced that they could no longer endure [the attacks], and the Americans, for their part, considered only the safety of their ships and of the [shipping] lanes. [They said] 'to hell with the Yemenis and with the consequences of the Houthi rule and the Houthi actions,' which have been the epitome of political, ideological and human backwardness for over a decade.
"It's a disgrace that the modern world, with its [ostensibly] humane organizations and laws, faces the complete tragedy of nearly 30 million souls, namely the Yemeni people, and does nothing but safeguard its economy and trade."[4]
Khaled bin Hamed Al-Malik, editor of the Saudi Al-Jazirah daily, wrote that the U.S. is playing a political game in the region while looking after its own interests, and that it has apparently agreed to let the Houthis retain their military strength even at the expense of the region's security and the future of Yemen:
"Despite the large number of ongoing American attacks [on the Houthis], and although the U.S. claims to have hit their weapons depots, missile factories, drones, launchers and the hideouts of their leaders, we do not see [that these attacks] had a big and decisive effect and eliminated the Houthis' strength, judging by the few announcements issued by the U.S. and the Houthis. If we consider the number of the [American] attacks and their daily occurrence, and at the fact that over a month passed from the moment they started to the moment Trump announced the Oman-brokered agreement, [along with the fact that], before the agreement, the Houthis kept firing their missiles and drones at ships in the Red Sea and at Israel, we understand that the U.S. attacks on selected Houthi targets in more than one city and more than one site had no great or decisive effect, and did not eliminate the Houthis' strength. So the agreement was [in fact] meant to help the Houthis preserve their fighting capabilities.
"Perhaps the Americans do not mean to eliminate the Houthis completely, but only to neutralize their [ability] to fire drones at commercial vessels in the Red Sea, at the international shipping lanes and at [vessels] bound for Israel and thereby prevent them from harming international trade… That is, [they don't mind if] the Houthis retain control of northern Yemen as long as Red Sea shipping is unaffected. That is what the agreement demands: that shipping not be exposed to attacks and that the Houthis commit to this.
"If this conclusion is correct, then America's policy in the region apparently accepts the Houthi presence as a military force as long as shipping in the Red Sea is not threatened – even if this undermines regional stability and leaves Yemen to an uncertain future. The U.S. has its own approaches to handling complicated issues in the region, and sometimes it prefers not to resolve them in a way that ends the tension…
"We are facing a political game that America is playing, sometimes with threats and sometimes with calls for dialogue, and recently with this agreement that was reached with the Houthis in peaceful ways. [But] the question remains: What is Washington planning and what will happen after this agreement?"
On his X account, Saudi commentator and retired general Abdallah Ghanem Al-Qahtani slammed the Houthis and the entire resistance axis for reconciling with the U.S. while forgetting all their slogans about liberating Palestine. He wrote: "…Where is the resistance axis today and where is the liberation of Palestine? And what are the consequences of [Hamas'] cursed and failed October 7 attack, which [both] Israel and Iran exploited at the expense of the Palestinian cause and Arab national security[?] Gaza is dying… while the Houthis, Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas hold secret contacts with the U.S. in order to reconcile [with it], and there is no trace [of their promises about] Jerusalem, the liberation of Palestine and supporting the oppressed!... The Houthis' greatest achievement is the recent destruction and disabling of Sanaa's international airport – by inviting an Israeli and American [attack on it] – and the destruction of Al-Hudaydah port… "