• Says both parties violated ceasefire 

United States (US) President Donald Trump accused both Israel and Iran of violating a ceasefire yesterday (24), hours after he announced it, expressing particular frustration with Israel which had announced plans for major new strikes on Tehran, Iran.

“Israel. Don’t drop those bombs. If you do it, it’s a major violation. Bring your pilots home, now!,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, shortly after he left the White House for a trip to a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit in The Hague, The Netherlands. Before boarding, he told reporters that he was “not happy” with either side for violating the truce, particularly with Israel, which he said had “unloaded” straight after agreeing to it.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz had said that he had ordered the military to mount new strikes on targets in Tehran in response to what he said were Iranian missiles fired in a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire.

Iran denied launching any missiles and said that Israel’s attacks had continued for an hour and a half beyond the time that the ceasefire was meant to start.

In both countries, the wider Middle East and around the world, there was a palpable sense of relief that a path out of war had been charted, 12 days after Israel launched it with a surprise attack, and two days after the US joined in.

Trump had announced the ceasefire with a post on Truth Social: “The ceasefire is now in effect. Please don’t violate it.”

(Reuters)