News - Middle East: Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, Sheikh Naim Qassem, affirmed that despite its vast power and influence, the United States could not persist in the face of Yemen, which forced it to withdraw.

In a speech on Sunday marking the occasion of Resistance, Liberation Day, Sheikh Qassem stated, "Yemen has made many sacrifices for the sake of Gaza, Palestine, and Arab, human dignity, it forced America to withdraw. America was unable to do anything against it."

He praised Yemen's support for the Palestinian cause, noting that "what is happening in Gaza is a living example of the steadfastness of the Palestinian people, and that resistance is the only path to victory."

Sheikh Qassem stressed that "if America believes it can impose Israeli conditions through pressure, I tell it: these conditions will never be achieved, no matter the sacrifices."

In a major strategic miscalculation, the Trump administration’s military campaign against Yemen in early 2025, meant to crush the Yemeni Armed Forces and assert US dominance in the Red Sea, ended in costly failure. 

Initially designed as an extended, multi-phase operation involving airstrikes, targeted assassinations, and even a potential ground invasion, the campaign faltered within weeks. Despite deploying advanced aircraft, carrier groups, and billions of dollars’ worth of weaponry, the US failed to gain air superiority or disrupt Yemeni resistance, which downed multiple drones and continued maritime attacks unabated

Washington’s sudden halt of the campaign, without consulting Israel, coincided with a dramatic escalation: a Yemeni ballistic missile strike on Lod Airport in occupied Jaffa and the loss of a $67 million fighter jet. The administration announced a ceasefire mediated by Oman, effectively acknowledging Yemen's resilience and deterrent power.