Middle East war: Inside Israel-Iran ceasefire deal

A fragile ceasefire in the Iran-Israel war was held on Tuesday, after 12 days of strikes that saw Israel and the United States pummel the Islamic republic’s nuclear sites.

US President Donald Trump, who had first declared the ceasefire on Tuesday told Israel: “Do not drop those bombs” on Iran.

In Israel, no warning sirens sounded after 0745 GMT, while in Iran, the military reported the last strikes at around 0530 GMT.

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“ISRAEL, DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform, hours after he said the truce had taken effect. “IF YOU DO, IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!”

The US leader had said the truce would be a phased 24-hour process beginning at around 0400 GMT Tuesday, with Iran unilaterally halting all operations first. He said Israel would follow suit 12 hours later.

“THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Israel said it had agreed to Trump’s ceasefire plan, adding that it had achieved all its objectives.

The Israeli government said: “Last night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the cabinet… to announce that Israel had achieved all the objectives of Operation ‘Rising Lion’ and much more.”

Palestinian authority demands Gaza truce too

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority demanded on Tuesday that the ceasefire deal be widened to include the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

“The Palestinian Presidency welcomed US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire agreement,” President Mahmud Abbas’ office said in a statement carried by official news agency Wafa, adding, “We demand the completion of this step by achieving a ceasefire that includes the Gaza Strip.”

Similarly, Israel’s opposition leader and the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza called Tuesday for an end to the war in the Palestinian territory after the ceasefire was announced with Iran.

“And now Gaza. It’s time to finish it there too. Bring back the hostages, end the war,” opposition leader Yair Lapid of the centre-right Yesh Atid party wrote on X.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the main group representing the families of those abducted during Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, also called on Israeli prime minister to seek a Gaza ceasefire.

“We call on the government to engage in urgent negotiations that will bring home all the hostages and end the war. Those who can achieve a ceasefire with Iran can also end the war in Gaza,” it said in a statement.

Of the 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants in October 2023, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

The October 2023 attack that sparked the Gaza war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 56,077 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Gaza health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.

Qatar’s role

Qatar’s prime minister persuaded Iran to agree to the US-proposed ceasefire with Israel after Iranian missiles targeted an American base near Doha, a source with knowledge of the talks said on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani spoke to the Iranians at Washington’s request following Monday’s unprecedented attack on Qatari soil, the source told AFP.

Qatar has good ties with both Iran and the United States and has been pushing, alongside other Gulf states including Oman, for a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

“In the aftermath of the strikes on Al Udeid (military base), President (Donald) Trump told the Emir of Qatar Israel had signed off on an American ceasefire proposal,” the source said.

“The US president then asked that Qatar help get Iran to agree to a deal,” the source added, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

US Vice President JD Vance spoke to the Qatari prime minister “who persuaded Iran to agree to the proposal in a call with the Iranians,” the source said.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Sheikh Mohammed confirmed that Qatar “initiated communication” with Iran at America’s prompting.

The prime minister described the attack as “unacceptable” but said Qatar’s response would be “diplomatic and legal”.

Qatar’s foreign ministry welcomed the ceasefire, calling it a “meaningful step towards adopting dialogue and diplomacy to resolve conflicts in the region.”

Sheikh Mohammed also urged Washington and Tehran to resume Oman-mediated talks on Iran’s nuclear programme that were frozen when Israel began striking Iran.

He added that Qatar, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, was working on resuming talks for a fresh ceasefire in the Gaza war.

Early breeches of ceasefire

After Trump said the truce had taken hold, Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had ordered the army “to respond forcefully” to what he described as a ceasefire violation after incoming Iranian missiles were reported by the military.

Iran, however, denied launching missiles at Israel after the announcement, and its military later accused Israel of similarly launching attacks after the ceasefire.

But attacks had continued until the ceasefire took effect, with Israeli rescuers reporting four people killed in a strike and state media in the Islamic republic saying waves of missiles were headed towards Israel.

In Iran, state television said an overnight Israeli strike in northern Iran killed a nuclear scientist Mohammad Reza Seddighi Saber, who was under US sanctions.

However, Israel informed the US president that it would refrain from further attacks on Iran in a conversation between Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu on Tuesday, Netanyahu’s office said.

Trump had stressed his confidence in the stability of the ceasefire he had announced earlier, the report said.

Netanyahu’s office reported that four hours before the ceasefire was to go into effect, Israeli forces had killed hundreds of Iranian security personnel and members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IGRC).

Iran had in turn launched a barrage of missiles shortly before the ceasefire deadline, a single missile six minutes after the ceasefire had gone into effect and a further two missiles around three and a half hours later, it said.

“These missiles were either intercepted or fell in open areas, and caused neither casualties nor damage,” Netanyahu’s office said.

“In response to Iran’s violations, the air force destroyed a radar installation near Tehran,” it added.

Reactions trail truce announcement

An ex-Nigerian ambassador to Switzerland, Ambassador Martin Uhomoibhi, while speaking on the fragile truce, expressed optimism that the parties involved would now return to negotiation.

Speaking on the phone with our correspondent, the diplomat declined predicting if the truce will last or not, saying he was not a prophet.

“Unless you are a prophet, you can’t predict what can really happen,” he said, adding that, “I suppose both sides have had a full dose of war and bitterness, and that’s what human beings go through at least. After they have killed each other and refused to listen, then they will now come back for peace.

“And then you ask them, ‘why did you do what you did? I don’t know whether both sides are exhausted yet but if they are exhausted, and I think from what I can see, from what I can imagine, Israel has also seen that nobody has a monopoly of violence.

“And because Iran has also responded in the way that it has, the only sane thing, which we always advocate as diplomats, is to allow peace to reign, and that’s what we all wish them to appreciate,” Ambassador Uhomoibhi said.

Ambassador Uhomoibhi, a former coordinator and alternative representative of Nigeria to the Security Council in New York, said killings and destruction could not solve differences, stressing that dialogue was the best solution.

“So, it is our expectation that both sides will recognise the futility of killing each other for nothing and come to the table and discuss as partners for peace for the sake of development and mutual prosperity,” he said.

Some Israelis on Tuesday welcomed the prospect of a truce after 12 days of intense fighting.

“I really hope so,” said Tel Aviv resident Tammy Shel of the prospect of a lasting ceasefire.

“Really. I am so tired. Everyone is tired. We just want to have some peace of mind… For us, for the Iranian people, for the Palestinians, for everyone in the region. For all human beings.”

Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 610 civilians and wounded more than 4,700 others, according to the health ministry.

Iran’s attacks on Israel have killed 28 people, according to official figures and rescuers.

Saudi Arabia and the European Union welcomed Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire, while China urged Iran and Israel to seek a “political resolution” to their conflict and Turkey called on both sides to fully stop hostilities.

French President Emmanuel Macron said there was an “increased” risk that Iran would attempt to enrich uranium secretly following US and Israeli strikes on nuclear sites.