Iraq and Yemen Militias to Suspend Attacks on Israel Over Gaza Ceasefire

Iran-aligned forces in Iraq and Yemen have announced suspension of their attacks on Israel in response to a ceasefire deal struck between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip.

The deal, secured Wednesday just days before President Joe Biden was set to hand the reins of the White House to President-elect Donald Trump on Monday, was confirmed by both men as well as Hamas and mediators Egypt and Qatar. Israel has yet to publicly confirm the deal, which would face a vote within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet and the Israeli parliament.

But factions of the Iran-led Axis of Resistance that joined the fight against Israel from abroad after the Hamas-led attack that sparked the war on October 7, 2023, have already begun hailing the deal as a victory for their shared cause, bringing an end to a multifront war that has gripped the Middle East.

“With this important development, we announce that we will suspend our military operations against the entity in solidarity with its halt in Palestine, and to strengthen the continuation of the truce in Gaza,” Akram al-Kaabi, secretary-general of the Nujaba Movement, said in a statement published Wednesday and shared with Newsweek by the Iraqi group’s press office.

“However, let the usurping entity know that any foolishness on its part in Palestine or the region will be met with a harsh response, and that our fingers are still on the trigger and our missiles and drones are fully prepared,” Kaabi said. “If they return, we will return.”

Mohammed Abdul Salam, spokesperson for Yemen’s Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthi movement, declared the group’s “battle reaching its conclusion with the declaration of a ceasefire in Gaza.”

Yet he, too, issued a warning to Israel, calling it “a dangerous entity for everyone,” as “its continued occupation of Palestine represents a threat to the security and stability of the region.”

Another source within Ansar Allah told Newsweek the group’s official position would soon be announced by the group’s leader, Abdul Malek al-Houthi.

Why This Matters

While much of the conflict that has consumed the region over the past 15 months revolved around the battle in Gaza, the Axis of Resistance intervention and Israeli strikes against member groups escalated the broader conflict to levels not seen since the last Arab-Israeli war fought half a century ago.

The fight between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, long considered among the most powerful non-state actors in the world, proved especially intense. The two sides signed a ceasefire on November 27, two months after the killing of longtime Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike and the beginning of a cross-border ground incursion by Israeli forces.

Newsweek has reached out to Hezbollah for comment.

That same day, Islamist rebels launched an offensive that ultimately ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last month, marking another major loss for Iran’s sphere of influence in the region.

But even with these setbacks, Ansar Allah and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq pressed on with missile and drone attacks against Israel that continued to test the nation’s state-of-the-art air defenses.

Ansar Allah’s campaign also targeted commercial vessels accused of involvement with Israel, severely cutting maritime traffic through the Suez Canal and driving up the price of global shipping. The group continued operations in spite of strikes by Israel and the United States.

The Yemeni rebels, who seized control of the capital Sanaa a decade ago, have turned their weapons against the U.S. military as well. Hours before the ceasefire in Gaza was announced Wednesday, Ansar Allah military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed the group targeted the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and other U.S. Navy ships operating in the Red Sea.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has also targeted the U.S. military presence in the region, claiming a number of rocket and drone attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria since the beginning of the war in Gaza. The Biden administration has ordered several rounds of airstrikes against Iraqi militias in response to such attacks.

What To Know

While much of the messaging surrounding the ceasefire in Gaza has been hopeful, a senior Biden administration official told reporters Wednesday that “not everything here is going to go smoothly.”

Reports emerged in the hours after the agreement was announced of new Israeli airstrikes targeting Gaza City as the deal awaited ratification from Israeli officials and lawmakers. The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately announce any new operations.

If approved and implemented, however, the expressed willingness of not only Hamas but also its allies abroad to indefinitely end military operations could substantially ease regional tensions that fueled two exchanges of direct attacks between Israel and Iran over the past year.

A calmer regional environment could also serve the platform of Trump, who has taken credit for pushing the long-deadlocked negotiations forward in the final weeks of the Biden administration.

The president-elect has repeatedly vowed to oversee a more peaceful foreign policy than Biden, an approach he described as “PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH” in a Truth Social post shortly after news began to circulate of a truce in Gaza.

What People Are Saying

Islamic Resistance in Iraq’s Kataib Sarkhat al-Quds (Shout of Jerusalem Brigade), formerly Ashab al-Kahf, in a statement issued Wednesday: “The war in Gaza has come to an end, and it will be a historic day in the life of the resistance and the cause, a victory that will remain in the record of history when epics and heroics were keen and ended with victory, promise and dignity.”

Biden, while addressing the Gaza ceasefire on Wednesday: “This has been time of real turmoil in the Middle East. But as I prepare to leave office, our friends are strong, our enemies are weak, and there’s genuine opportunities for a new future. In Lebanon, there’s an opportunity for a future free from the grip of Hezbollah. In Syria, a future free from the tyranny of Assad. And for the Palestinian people, an incredible pathway to a state of their own. And for the region, a future of normalization, integration of Israel and all its Arab neighbors, including Saudi Arabia.”

What Happens Next

While the Axis of Resistance regroups from its most significant test since the battle against the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), much of the commitment among its members, particularly Ansar Allah and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, to pausing attacks on Israel will likely rest on the success of the ceasefire itself.

The deal, which could be implemented as early as Sunday, would entail a six-week ceasefire, the exchange of a number of prisoners, a partial Israeli withdrawal and a surge in humanitarian aid to Gaza. Achieving further aims, including a lasting peace, would entail further negotiations with no guarantee of success despite international pressure to end the war.