Ceasefire in jeopardy as Israel accuses Iran of truce violation

The ceasefire between Israel and Iran, announced just hours earlier, is already under strain.

US President Donald Trump said both sides had agreed to the ceasefire, effectively ending the 12-day war.

Iran and Israel also confirmed that they would pause hostilities.

However, the Israeli prime minister’s office vowed to “respond forcefully” to any violations of the truce.

Before the truce began, both sides exchanged heavy fire overnight.

A few minutes before the truce, an Iranian ballistic missile hit a residential building in Israel’s southern city of Beersheba, killing four people.

Hours into the truce, the Israeli military said it identified missiles launched from Iran.

The IDF said air defence systems are “operating to intercept the threat” and told people to hide in shelters until further notice.

However, Iran has denied the attacks.

The IDF has vowed to “respond with force” to what it calls Iran’s “severe violation”.

In response, Iran’s supreme national security council issued a statement about “imposing the halt of the war” on Israel and its “terrorist supporters”.

The council warned that “any further aggression will be met with a decisive, firm, and timely response by Iran”.

A visibly angry Trump rebuked Israel and Iran for violating the ceasefire.

The US president said he was unhappy in particular with Israel.

“Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I’ve never seen before,” Trump said as he left Washington for a NATO summit in the Netherlands.

“We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard, they don’t know what the f** they are doing.”

Trump also took to Truth Social platform to post the following: “ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO, IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!”