The ink had barely dried on the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran when the region plunged back into chaos. Brokered with bold confidence by US President Donald Trump, the truce was hailed on Monday night as a diplomatic masterstroke. By Tuesday morning, it had become a delicate thread threatening to snap.
What happened?
Israel’s early Tuesday strike on a radar facility north of Tehran prompted immediate outrage in Iran. Although Prime Minister Netanyahu claimed restraint after a call with Trump, Iranian missiles fired in retaliation—some intercepted, others not—threw the agreement into doubt.
Trump, visibly furious aboard Air Force One en route to the NATO summit, lashed out at both parties. “They don’t know what the f**k they’re doing,” he said, referencing the continued cycle of attack and counterattack. Meanwhile, casualties on both sides mounted. Iranian state media reported over 600 deaths since Israel’s initial assault on June 13.
NATO and world leaders are watching nervously. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov welcomed the ceasefire “if it is real.” Canadian PM Mark Carney, in a sobering CNN interview, suggested Iran’s weakened state opens a fragile window for diplomacy—but warned, “We’ll see how it holds.”
In Beersheba, where Iranian missiles flattened residential buildings just before the ceasefire deadline, grief overshadows politics. For residents there, hope came too late.
