ADEN (Realist English). The Trump administration has approached Yemen’s internationally recognised government (IRG) in Aden about potentially contributing troops to the “international stabilisation force” being assembled for Gaza, AFP reported on Wednesday, citing multiple Yemeni officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A senior military official confirmed that Yemen’s participation “has been discussed with the Americans,” but said the IRG has “not yet received any official request.” Despite holding Yemen’s seat at the UN and maintaining diplomatic representation in Washington, the IRG has limited authority on the ground after being expelled from Sanaa by Houthi forces more than 12 years ago.
The Houthis now control most of Yemen and have been targeted by repeated Saudi, Emirati, Israeli and US airstrikes. The group openly supports Hamas, while Hamas itself has rejected any international force operating under US direction. Earlier this week, the movement said any deployment must report directly to the UN, work with official Palestinian institutions, and exclude “the occupation.”
The reports of U.S. outreach come one day after President Donald Trump hosted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House. Riyadh is the IRG’s chief backer and has led a military campaign against the Houthis since 2015, a conflict that produced one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Trump has stated that Saudi Arabia will finance much of Gaza’s reconstruction and is pushing to assemble a stabilisation force drawn from Arab and Muslim states to guide the enclave through a post-Hamas transition. Turkey and Indonesia have already prepared military units for potential deployment.
However, Hamas’s opposition to US oversight raises the risk that any such force could end up in direct confrontation with Palestinian fighters — complicating Washington’s efforts to stabilise Gaza under an international mandate.
