Chief of the General Staff LTG Eyal Zamir during a situational assessment following the beginning of the ceasefire with Iran

MxM News

Quick Hit:

A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran appeared to hold Tuesday after early strikes from both sides threatened to unravel it. President Trump, who brokered the deal, criticized the violations and pushed both nations to stand down.

Key Details:

• Trump declared a “complete and total ceasefire” late Monday after Iran fired missiles at a U.S. base in Qatar in response to American strikes on its nuclear sites.
• Hours after the ceasefire was set to begin, Israel accused Iran of violating it by firing missiles into its territory—claims Tehran denied, even as explosions and air raid sirens rocked northern Israel.
• Trump publicly criticized both nations, stating “they don’t know what the f*** they’re doing,” and later confirmed that Israeli warplanes would turn back instead of launching a broader retaliation.

Diving Deeper:

Calm returned to parts of the Middle East Tuesday as a U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Iran began to settle in—though not without incident. For nearly two weeks, the region was on the brink of a broader war, ignited by Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear and military targets and exacerbated by retaliatory attacks from Tehran.

President Donald Trump took credit for halting the hostilities. “ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran,” he wrote on Truth Social. “All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly ‘Plane Wave’ to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect!”

Despite the ceasefire’s official start early Tuesday morning, it nearly unraveled within hours. Israeli officials said Iran launched at least two missiles after the truce deadline, though they were intercepted before impact. Iran, meanwhile, denied any post-deadline strikes and blamed Israel for earlier attacks.

Speaking before leaving for a NATO summit, Trump said both sides had violated the agreement and did not hold back his frustration. “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f*** they’re doing,” he said, adding that he was “not happy with Israel.”

Still, the agreement held. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the country stood down from further attacks following a direct conversation with Trump. Israel claimed to have achieved its objectives, including weakening Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities.

The conflict’s origin traces back to Israeli fears that Iran was nearing the threshold of building nuclear weapons, despite Tehran’s insistence that its program is for peaceful energy purposes. Over the weekend, the U.S. deepened its involvement by launching bunker-buster bombs on Iranian nuclear sites. Iran responded with a limited strike on a U.S. base in Qatar—an attack Washington said came with advance warning and caused no casualties.

Meanwhile, fallout from the war continues to spread. Israeli officials said at least 28 of their citizens have been killed and over 1,000 injured. Iranian casualty estimates are far higher, with nearly 1,000 reported dead, including hundreds of civilians and military personnel, according to the Human Rights Activists group.

Even as the ceasefire sets in, the risk of broader conflict remains. Pro-Iran militias in Iraq reportedly launched drone attacks on U.S. bases overnight, though they were intercepted without casualties. The U.S. has begun evacuating American citizens from Israel, and China—one of Iran’s few remaining oil buyers—has condemned the U.S. strikes, warning of a dangerous cycle of escalation.

Trump said he is not seeking regime change in Iran, walking back prior comments. “Regime change takes chaos and, ideally, we don’t want to see much chaos,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Still, the situation remains volatile. The ceasefire, while welcomed, remains fragile—held together largely by Trump’s pressure campaign and the willingness of both sides to pause, if only momentarily, from what could have spiraled into an uncontrollable regional war.