Washington, June 24: President Donald Trump told reporters that Israel and Iran violated ceasefire terms with attacks following an early Tuesday deadline to cease hostilities.
He warned Israel to bring its pilots home as he tried to sustain a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
That was in a post on Truth Social Tuesday.
Speaking before departing for the NATO summit at The Hague, Trump expressed disappointment about the continued attacks.
“They violated it but Israel violated it too,” Trump said. He added, ”I’m not happy with Israel.”
At around the same time, he said in a Truth post: “ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!”
The truce faltered on Tuesday when Israel accused Iran of launching missiles into its airspace after the ceasefire was supposed to take effect and vowed to retaliate.
Iran’s military denied firing on Israel, state media reported — but explosions boomed and sirens sounded across northern Israel midmorning, and an Israeli military official said two Iranian missiles were intercepted.
The conflict, now in its 12th day, began with Israel targeting Iranian nuclear and military sites, saying it could not allow Tehran to develop atomic weapons — and that it feared the Islamic Republic was close. Iran has long maintained that its program is peaceful.
Many worried the war might widen after the US joined the attacks by dropping bunker-buster bombs over the weekend and Israel expanded the kinds of targets it was hitting.
But after Tehran launched a limited retaliatory strike on a US military base in Qatar on Monday, Trump announced a ceasefire.
Both sides accepted the agreement, but it is now unclear if it will hold.
“Tehran will tremble,” Israeli Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich warned on X, raising the spectre that the war might continue. (AP)
