Iranian Strike Kills Three Israelis Despite Trump’s Ceasefire Announcement

Iranian Strike Kills Three Israelis Despite Trump’s Ceasefire Announcement
Israeli emergency services reported on Tuesday that an Iranian strike claimed the lives of three people, even as Tehran’s state media announced additional missile launches targeting Israel.
This development comes shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump declared a ceasefire between the two long-standing adversaries.
However, neither Iran nor Israel has officially confirmed the ceasefire Trump mentioned, despite the conflict having already resulted in hundreds of deaths in Iran and over two dozen in Israel.
The US leader had said the ceasefire would be a phased 24-hour process beginning at around 0400 GMT Tuesday, with Iran unilaterally halting all operations. Israel would follow suit 12 hours later.
“It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“Upon the 24th hour, an official end to the 12-day war will be saluted by the world,” he said, adding that both sides had agreed to remain “peaceful and respectful” during each phase of the process.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi that “as of now, there is NO ‘agreement’ on ceasefire or cessation of military operations.”
“However, provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 am Tehran time, we have no intention to continue our response afterwards,” he said on social media.
But Israel’s army said sirens were activated in northern Israel — where moments before Iran’s state media Irib reported a wave of missiles were headed.
Israeli emergency services also reported casualties in an Iranian missile strike in southern Israel.
“Following the missile impact site in southern Israel: So far, MDA teams have pronounced the deaths of three people,” Magen David Adom said in a statement on X.
Explosions also continued to rock Tehran overnight, with blasts in the north and centre of the Iranian capital described by AFP journalists as some of the strongest since the conflict broke out.
Any cessation in hostilities would come as a huge relief to world leaders frantic about an escalation in violence igniting a wider conflagration.
The adversaries had been swapping missile fire since Israel carried out surprise “preemptive” strikes against Iran on June 13, targeting nuclear and military sites, and prompting Trump to warn of a possible “massive” regional conflict.
The US leader’s truce announcement came hours after Iran launched missiles at the largest US military facility in the Middle East — Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar — in a move Trump shrugged off as “very weak.”
Calling for a de-escalation, Trump said Tehran had given advance notice of the barrage.
Iran’s National Security Council confirmed having targeted the base “in response to the US aggressive and insolent action against Iran’s nuclear sites and facilities”.
But it added that the number of missiles launched “was the same as the number of bombs that the US had used” — a signal that it had calibrated its response to be directly proportional rather than escalatory.
“This was calibrated and telegraphed in a way that would not result in any American casualties, so that there is an off ramp for both sides,” Ali Vaez, a senior advisor at the International Crisis Group, told AFP.
The offensive came after the United States joined its ally Israel’s military campaign against
Iran, attacking an underground uranium enrichment centre with massive bunker-busting bombs and hitting two other nuclear facilities overnight Saturday into Sunday.
As international concern mounted that Israel’s campaign and the US strikes could ignite a wider conflict, French President Emmanuel Macron insisted that “the spiral of chaos must end” while China warned of the potential economic fallout.
Iran said its assault in Qatar wasn’t targeting the Middle Eastern neighbour, but the government in Doha accused Tehran of “blatant aggression” and claimed its right to a “proportional” response.
Iran’s state media reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched six missiles that struck the Al Udeid air base, which Qatari authorities said had already been evacuated prior to the attack.
According to a U.S. defense official, the barrage included both short- and medium-range ballistic missiles. AFP journalists in Doha and Lusail, north of the capital, reported hearing explosions on Monday evening and witnessed projectiles streaking across the night sky.
Footage aired on Iranian state television showed crowds gathered in central Tehran celebrating the attack, with some waving the national flag and chanting slogans such as “Death to America.”
In response to escalating regional tensions, Qatar temporarily closed its airspace, while the U.S. embassy and other diplomatic missions issued shelter-in-place advisories to their citizens.
Iran’s Health Ministry stated that more than 400 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Iranian territory. In contrast, official figures report that 24 people have died in Iranian attacks on Israel.
AFP