Iran sent a barrage of deadly missiles at Israel and Israel promised a forceful response in the hours after President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to announce that the countries had agreed to a “complete and total ceasefire.”
In a post sent shortly after 6:00 p.m. ET Monday, the president said the ceasefire would start to take effect about six hours after Israel and Iran “wound down” the strikes against each other that were currently in progress.
After hours of uncertainty, senior Iranian officials appeared to confirm to the Reuters news agency that the country was agreeing to the U.S. proposal. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council claimed victory in the wake of the announcement, saying that Iran’s missile attacks on a U.S. base in Qatar had succeeded in “imposing a cease-fire” on Israel.
The Israeli government’s statement saying it had agreed to the ceasefire came early Tuesday morning Eastern time. On Monday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet and military leadership that that Israel had “achieved all the goals” in its 12-day campaign targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities and top military brass.
“In light of achieving the objectives of the campaign, and in complete coordination with President Trump, Israel agreed to the president’s proposal for a mutual ceasefire,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement. It warned, however, that “Israel will forcefully respond to any violation of the ceasefire.”
Despite both sides’ apparent agreement, hostilities continued overnight and into Tuesday morning. In one of the deadliest attacks on Israel during the conflict, four people were killed and at least 22 others were injured Tuesday morning when Iranian missiles struck a residential complex in Beersheba. The barrage landed in Israel before what Trump had described as the intended 7 a.m. (Israel time) start of the ceasefire. However, Israel accused Iran of launching a fresh set of missiles at Israel shortly before 10:30 a.m. The Israeli government promised a forceful military response.
Israeli jets struck dozens of Iranian military targets in Tehran overnight, the IDF said at a news conference Tuesday morning.
Initially, Trump offered a somewhat convoluted timeframe for the ceasefire, explaining that, “Officially, Iran will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 12th Hour, Israel will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 24th Hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World.”
Trump offered his congratulations to both countries. Israel launched attacks on Iran 12 days ago, aiming to cripple its nuclear program. The United States joined the effort on Saturday night, delivering powerful bombs at three Iranian nuclear sites. Iran has responded with missile strikes.
In Israel, at least 28 people have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded in the hostilities. Iran’s health ministry said more than 400 Iranians have been killed since the start of the attacks, although some human rights groups say that number is considerably higher.
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