Trump rebukes Israel for post-ceasefire strikes

MANDEL NGAN / AFP

US President Donald Trump accused both Israel and Iran of violating a ceasefire on Tuesday hours after he announced it, expressing particular frustration with Israel which had announced major new strikes on Tehran.

"Israel. Do not drop those bombs. If you do it it is a major violation. Bring your pilots home, now!" Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after he left the White House for a trip to a NATO summit in The Hague.

Before boarding, he told reporters he was "not happy" with either side for violating the truce, particularly with Israel.

"I've got to get Israel to calm down now," Trump said as he left the White House.

"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!," Trump said in a subsequent post on Truth Social.

Earlier, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz had said he had ordered the military to mount new strikes on targets in Tehran in response to what he said were Iranian missiles fired in a "blatant violation" of the ceasefire.

Iran denied launching any missiles and said Israel's attacks had continued for an hour and a half beyond the time the ceasefire was meant to start.

Despite the initial violations, in both countries, the wider Middle East and around the world there was palpable sense of relief that a path out of war had been charted, 12 days after Israel launched it with a surprise attack, and two days after Trump joined in with strikes on Iranian nuclear targets.

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