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Iran appeared to ignore President Donald Trump’s plea to adhere to the ceasefire he brokered between the Islamic Republic and Israel.
On Tuesday, Israel vowed to respond to the alleged violation, with Defense Minister Israel Katz announcing that he ordered the military to strike Tehran. Additionally, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of the General Staff Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir vowed the country would “respond with force.”
Iran’s military denied violating the ceasefire, according to reports. However, the IDF said on Tuesday that air raid sirens were sounding across the country.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a statement confirming that in response to Iran’s apparent violation, the Israeli Air Force destroyed a radar array near Tehran.
TRUMP BROKERS IRAN CEASEFIRE AS EXPERTS SAY REGIME’S ARSENAL IS SHATTERED BUT THREAT REMAINS
A senior Israeli official spoke with Fox News about Iran’s alleged violation of the ceasefire, saying that the country believes Tehran will attempt to fire more missiles within a matter of hours.
“Unfortunately, the Iranians have decided to continue to fire toward Israel,” a senior Israeli official told Fox News. “Two missiles were fired toward Israel, and we believe they are trying to fire more in the next couple of hours.”
Before the ceasefire went into effect, both countries got in parting shots, as Israel carried out a series of airstrikes and Iran launched missile barrages that killed at least four people, according to the Associated Press.
TRUMP HAILS ‘MONUMENTAL’ DAMAGE AS EXPERTS AWAIT VERDICT ON IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Trump expressed his frustration with the end of the ceasefire, calling on both countries to end the conflict. He posted on social media calling on Israel not to strike, which he said would constitute “a major violation” of the ceasefire. Trump demanded that the Jewish state bring its pilots back home.
The president also spoke about his disappointment with Israel’s response when answering questions from reporters outside the White House before heading to a NATO summit in the Netherlands.
“I’ve got to get Israel to calm down now,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. “I don’t like the fact that Israel went out this morning and at all and I’m gonna see if I can stop it.”
He later added that he did not believe the two countries were fighting because it’s all they have known for “so long.”
“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,” Trump said.
Shortly after speaking to reporters, Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that Israel would not attack Iran and that the ceasefire was in effect.
“ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. 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!” He later posted a follow-up saying that Iran would “never rebuild [its] nuclear facilities.”
Netanyahu’s office later confirmed that the two leaders spoke and that following the conversation “Israel refrained from further strikes.” The prime minister’s office also noted that Trump “expressed his deep appreciation for Israel — which achieved all the objectives of the war. He also expressed his confidence in the stability of the ceasefire.”
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