Israel and Iran both announced a halt to strikes on Monday after a fresh exchange of fire that began Sunday when Tehran launched missiles at Israel in retaliation for an Israeli strike on Beirut. The pause came hours after Israeli air strikes targeted what Israel described as military sites inside Iran, and after direct pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to BBC News, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that his country was holding fire "at the moment" but stressed that the struggle against Iran and Hezbollah was "not finished." Iran's armed forces said separately that it had stopped operations after delivering what it called a "painful response" to Israel. Iran also warned of "more severe and crushing measures" if Israel carried out more strikes, including in Lebanon.
The fighting resumed on Monday morning, with Iran launching additional missiles toward Jerusalem and central and southern Israel. The Israel Defence Forces said a second wave of air strikes hit a petrochemical complex in the southwestern Iranian city of Mahshahr, where an Israeli military official said chemicals used for ballistic missiles were produced. Iran's Emergency Organisation chief, Jafar Miadfar, told Tasnim news agency that the strikes injured 14 people in Mahshahr and one in Tehran.
Casualties were also reported in Lebanon. The Lebanese health ministry said five people were killed and eight wounded in an Israeli strike on Tyre in southern Lebanon on Monday. The Red Cross said four of its rescuers were among the injured.
Trump played a direct role in pressing Netanyahu to stand down. In a call with the BBC, Trump denied that Netanyahu had defied his wishes by launching the strikes, saying, "No, no. They had already gone. They had already gone. They were already on their way." An Israeli official confirmed that Israel halted its strikes at Trump's request.
When asked how he persuaded Netanyahu to stop, Trump said: "All I did is say, 'We have to use sense'. We're very close to signing a very powerful deal, a very good deal. No nuclear weapons, no nothing. You know, we have to use a lot of common sense. It was fine."
Trump also told US news outlet Axios that he had warned Netanyahu he might be left without American support. Axios quoted him as saying, "I said, 'Bibi, you better be careful, or you will be on your own very soon.'" Trump also said of Netanyahu: "If I tell him to do something, he does it."
Netanyahu, in his televised statement Monday, said he had told Trump that "Israel has a full right to self-defence, and we are exercising it as required."
Both sides have said the pause holds for now, though each has left open the possibility of renewed strikes if the other acts first.
