The United States and the Houthis have agreed to a ceasefire.

The Houthis, who control large areas of Yemen, began attacking Israel and commercial shipping and some US navy vessels in the Red Sea after Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023.

In response to Houthi attacks on shipping lanes, the US carried out attacks on the Iran-aligned group in Yemen.

Under the truce deal mediated by Oman, the US will halt its strikes on Houthi sites, and the Yemeni group will stop attacking US ships.

But the agreement does not include a truce in the conflict between Israel and the Houthis.

So, will Israel also stop its attacks? What does this all mean for the acute humanitarian crisis facing Yemenis?

Presenter: James Bays

Guests:

Maysaa Shuja al-Deen – Senior researcher, Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies

Ahmed al-Ashwal – Political and military analyst

Nabeel Khoury – Former US diplomat and former US deputy chief of mission to Yemen

Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa says Syria holding indirect talks with Israel ‘through mediators’.

Syrian’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa says his government has engaged in indirect talks with Israel in an attempt to ease escalating tensions between the two nations.

The announcement comes after an escalation in Israeli attacks on Syria last week, including a strike that landed just 500 metres (1,640 feet) from the presidential palace in Damascus on Friday.

Israel claimed its most recent air strikes were a response to what it described as threats to the country’s minority Druze community.

“There are indirect talks with Israel through mediators to calm and attempt to absorb the situation so that it does not reach a level that both sides lose control over,” al-Sharaa said, reiterating blame on Israel over what he described as its “random interventions” in Syria.

He also said Damascus was talking to states that communicate with Israel to “pressure them to stop intervening in Syrian affairs and bomb some of its infrastructure.”

There was no immediate comment from Israeli authorities.

Al-Sharaa’s remarks come during a landmark visit to Paris, his first trip to a European country since assuming office after he led opposition fighters in a lightning offensive that toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December.

The visit required a special exemption from the United Nations, as al-Sharaa remains under international sanctions due to his previous role as leader of the armed group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al-Qaeda affiliate.

Lifting sanctions

Speaking in Paris after meeting President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace, al-Sharaa called for the lifting of economic restrictions on Syria, stating: “Nothing justifies maintaining sanctions imposed on the previous regimes.”

President Macron said France would consider gradually lifting European Union sanctions if Syria continued along its current path.

“I told the president that if he continues on his path, we would do the same, namely by first progressively lifting European sanctions, and then we would also lobby our American partners to follow suit on this matter,” Macron said.

The European Union has already lifted some restrictions, while other measures targeting individuals and entities are set to expire on 1 June. Sanctions relief in sectors such as oil, gas, electricity and transport remain crucial for Syria, where the World Bank estimates reconstruction of the country could cost more than $250bn.

Despite some easing of sanctions by European countries, the Trump administration has been more reserved in its approach to the new Syrian administration.

Macron revealed that he is urging the United States to delay its planned military withdrawal from Syria, arguing that lifting sanctions should be prioritised as a step towards ensuring long-term stability.

Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler, reporting from Paris, said, “In return, Macron expects Syria’s new government to protect minorities, ensure stability and crack down on what he called terrorist organisations, including ISIS.”

“Sharaa is here to project a reassuring image to France’s Western allies, who have been a little bit wary and are looking to see what direction the new leadership takes,” Butler added.

The Trump administration has sought agreements allowing it to send immigrants to third countries for detention.

IAuthorities in Libya, a country still divided after years of civil war, have denied reports that they will receive undocumented migrants deported by the United States.

The Reuters news agency reported on Wednesday that deportation flights from the US to the North African country could begin this week, despite previous government reports raising alarm over unsafe conditions there.

The National Unity government, which controls western Libya, said in a statement that it rejected the use of its territory as a destination for deporting migrants without its knowledge or consent.

“The Government of National Unity categorically denies any agreement or coordination with US authorities regarding the deportation of migrants to Libya,” it said in a statement.

Haftar’s Libyan National Army, which controls eastern Libya, also rejected the report, saying that migrants “will not be received through airports and ports secured by the Armed Forces, and that this is completely false and we cannot accept it at all.”

The report by Reuters, which cites three anonymous US officials, says that the US military could fly migrants to Libya for detention as soon as Wednesday, but notes that those plans are subject to change. The number and nationality of the migrants who could be deported are unknown.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has sought out third countries where it can deport and detain undocumented immigrants, part of a larger push to enact the administration’s hard-right vision of immigration enforcement.

And on April 30, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced at a cabinet meeting at the White House that the US was requesting that countries take its undocumented migrants.

“We are working with other countries to say: We want to send you some of the most despicable human beings, will you do this as a favour to us?” Rubio said. “And the further away from America, the better.”

‘Extortion, forced labour and unlawful killings’

Authorities in Libya have long been willing and controversial partners in immigration enforcement, collaborating with the European Union to intercept and detain migrants and refugees attempting to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe.

A 2022 statement from the human rights watchdog Amnesty International says that “men, women and children returned to Libya face arbitrary detention, torture, cruel and inhuman detention conditions, rape and sexual violence, extortion, forced labour and unlawful killings”.

The US government itself has also documented unsafe conditions in Libya, with a report released last year by the Department of State noting “harsh and life-threatening prison conditions” and “arbitrary arrest and detention”.

Such conditions have not deterred the Trump administration from sending undocumented immigrants to prisons known for abusive conditions in countries like El Salvador, sometimes based on unsubstantiated allegations of gang affiliation and without due process.

The practice of third countries entering into agreements with Western nations to warehouse undocumented migrants and asylum seekers is also not entirely new.

Earlier this week, Rwanda also stated that it was discussing the possibility of receiving undocumented immigrants from the US. The Rwandan government has also previously entered into an agreement with the United Kingdom to hold asylum seekers while their claims were processed in the UK, although that deal ultimately stalled out when faced with backlash and legal challenges.