| |
Israel: Iran Attacked After Ceasefire 06/24 06:07
A tentative truce faltered Tuesday when Israel accused Iran of launching
missiles into its airspace after the ceasefire was supposed to take effect and
vowed to retaliate.
BEERSHEBA, Israel (AP) -- A tentative truce faltered 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.
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House before
departing for the NATO summit at The Hague that in his view, both sides had
violated the nascent agreement he had announced earlier.
"They violated it but Israel violated it too," Trump said. "I'm not happy
with Israel."
On social media, he called on Israel to stop dropping bombs and bring its
pilots home.
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 U.S. 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 U.S. military
base in Qatar on Monday, Trump announced the 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 specter that the war might continue.
Israel accuses Iran of violating the truce. Iran denies that
An Israeli military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line
with military regulations said Iran launched two missiles at Israel hours into
the tenuous ceasefire. Both were intercepted, the official said.
Iranian state television reported that the military denied firing missiles
after the start of the ceasefire -- while accusing Israel of conducting
strikes. It offered no evidence to support the claim of Israeli fire, with the
last reports of such attacks coming before dawn.
Part of the difficulty in sorting out the competing claims was that Trump's
social media post announcing the ceasefire said Iran would begin holding its
fire hours earlier than Israel. He later, however, announced that the ceasefire
was in effect, even though the window he initially gave for Israel had not yet
closed.
After accusing Iran of violating the ceasefire, Israeli Defense Minister
Israel Katz instructed Israel's military to resume "the intense operations to
attack Tehran and to destroy targets of the regime and terror infrastructure."
Breakthrough declared by Trump wobbles in initial hours
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had agreed to a bilateral
ceasefire with Iran in coordination with Trump, while pledging to respond to
any subsequent violation.
He said that Israel had achieved all of its war goals, including removing
the threat of Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
An announcement on Iranian state TV later said the ceasefire was in effect.
So did Trump, who posted: "THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT
VIOLATE IT!"
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that his country would not fire
at Israel if it was not fired upon, but that a "final decision on the cessation
of our military operations will be made later."
To secure the ceasefire, Trump had communicated directly with Netanyahu,
according to a senior White House official who insisted on anonymity to discuss
the Monday talks. Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and
special envoy Steve Witkoff communicated with the Iranians through direct and
indirect channels.
The White House has maintained that the U.S. bombing helped get the Israelis
to agree to the ceasefire and that the Qatari government helped to broker the
deal.
It's unclear what role Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's leader, played in the
talks. He said earlier on social media that he would not surrender.
Deal announced after hostilities spread
The shaky ceasefire came after hostilities spread further across the region.
Israel's military said Iran launched 20 missiles toward Israel before the
ceasefire began on Tuesday morning. Police said they damaged at least three
densely packed residential buildings in the city of Beersheba. First responders
said they retrieved four bodies from one building and were searching for more.
Earlier, the Fire and Rescue service said five bodies were found before
revising the number downward. At least 20 people were injured.
Outside, the shells of burned out cars littered the streets. Broken glass
and rubble covered the area. Police said some people were injured while inside
their apartments' reinforced safe rooms, which are meant to withstand rockets
but not direct hits from ballistic missiles.
Iran launched a limited missile attack Monday on a U.S. military base in
Qatar, retaliating for earlier American bombing of its nuclear sites. The U.S.
was warned by Iran in advance, and there were no casualties.
Drones attacked military bases in Iraq overnight, including some housing
U.S. troops, the Iraqi army and a US military official said Tuesday.
A senior U.S. military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because
he was not authorized to comment publicly, said U.S. forces had shot down
drones attacking Ain al-Assad in the desert in western Iraq and at a base next
to the Baghdad airport, while another one crashed.
No casualties were reported and no group claimed responsibility for the
attacks in Iraq. Some Iran-backed Iraqi militias had previously threatened to
target U.S. bases if the U.S. attacked Iran.
Conflict has killed hundreds
In Israel, at least 28 people have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded
in the war. Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 974 people and wounded
3,458 others, according to the Washington-based group Human Rights Activists.
The group, which has provided detailed casualty figures from Iranian unrest,
said of those killed, it identified 387 civilians and 268 security force
personnel.
The U.S. has evacuated some 250 American citizens and their immediate family
members from Israel by government, military and charter flights that began over
the weekend, a State Department official said.
There are roughly 700,000 American citizens, most of them dual U.S.-Israeli
citizens, believed to be in Israel.
|
|
