On Monday evening, President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, signaling a potential end to a 12-day conflict that began with Israeli strikes on June 13. Those strikes were eventually followed by a U.S. military operation, codenamed Midnight Hammer, which inflicted heavy damage on key Iranian nuclear sites.
Despite the announcement, the ceasefire was immediately tested. Both sides accused each other of violations within hours.
Israel confirmed its acceptance of the U.S.-brokered truce but reported that Iran had launched fresh missile attacks toward Israeli territory. In response, Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the IDF to prepare “high-intensity strikes against regime targets in the heart of Tehran.”
Iran countered by accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire first, pointing to multiple Israeli airstrikes on Iranian positions. Independent reports confirmed that some of these strikes occurred as early as two minutes before the ceasefire officially took effect at 3:30 a.m. Tel Aviv time. The competing claims and renewed skirmishes threatened to unravel the fragile truce almost as soon as it began.
President Trump, visibly frustrated, made clear to reporters outside the White House that Israel’s planned retaliation would carry serious consequences. He warned that any further escalation could jeopardize the fragile ceasefire and unravel U.S. efforts to stabilize the region.
WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE
Eventually, Israel stood down — heeding Trump’s demand and averting what could have been a swift return to full-scale conflict.
Mediaite’s Isaac Schorr has the latest:
President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday morning that Israel won’t retaliate against Iran over a missile strike that struck the Israeli city of Beersheba and killed at least four civilians after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal had gone into effect.
“ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly ‘Plane Wave’ to Iran,” wrote Trump on Truth Social. “Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect! Thank you for your attention to this matter! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.”
The announcement came shortly after Trump had raged at both parties for threatening the fragile peace during a gaggle on the White House lawn, musing that neither side “knows what the fuck they’re doing.”
The turning point came not in a war room or backchannel negotiation, but after Trump posted a blunt, all-caps directive that stunned allies and adversaries alike: “ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.”
The message landed like a diplomatic thunderclap. Within minutes, chatter surged across defense ministries in Washington, Jerusalem, and European capitals. Trump’s words weren’t a suggestion — they were an order, unmistakable and unfiltered.
And they appeared to work.
READ NEXT: Foreign Judge Accused Of Targeting MAGA Faces Huge Consequences
