The Israeli government says it has agreed to Donald Trump’s ceasefire proposal.
In a statement, it says: “Israel will respond forcefully to any violation of the ceasefire.”
Israel agrees ceasefire after ‘eliminating Iran’s nuclear and missile threat’
More now from Israel’s statement.
The Israeli government says it agreed to the ceasefire proposal after “achieving the objectives” of its attacks on Iran.
According to the statement, Israel has removed Iran’s “dual immediate existential threat” from nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
It also says Israel has “inflicted severe damage on the military leadership, and destroyed dozens of central Iranian government targets”.
The statement goes on to say that Israeli forces, in the last day, have “severely struck government targets in the heart of Tehran, eliminating hundreds of Basij operatives” – a militia the Iranian government often uses to suppress protests – and “eliminating another senior nuclear scientist”.
“Israel thanks President Trump and the United States for their support in defence and their participation in eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat,” the statement adds.
Iran state media says ‘last round of missiles’ fired before ceasefire begins
Iranian state media outlet SNN reports that Iran has fired “a last round of missiles” towards Israel before a ceasefire comes into effect.
As we’ve mentioned, Israel said they detected waves of missile strikes earlier, which killed at leaset four people.
Iran’s state TV is also reporting that a cease fire has been “imposed” on Israel after waves of Iranian attacks.
As a reminder, Israel has not publicly accepted the ceasefire proposal
Four dead, 22 injured in southern Israel – ambulance service
Trump says Iran-Israel ceasefire now in effect
Donald Trump has just said in a post on Truth Social: “The ceasefire is now in effect. Please do not violate it!”
As a reminder, Israel has not publicly accepted the ceasefire proposal. Iran state TV announced earlier that a ceasefire had been “imposed” on Israel.
More challenges for US after the ceasefire, if Israel accepts – Analysis
We are still waiting to see whether Israel has agreed to a ceasefire, as President Donald Trump claims. Iran appears to have accepted, according to state television.
But the hard part for him comes after the ceasefire: keeping the nuclear weapon out of Iranian hands. The White House claimed that Iran’s nuclear program was completely destroyed. But no one will know for certain until Iran allows observers on the ground.
There are other unknowns too.
Had Iranians removed nuclear material and processing machines out of known sites before the American attack? Are there secret sites that were not destroyed by the strikes?
Americans now need a diplomatic deal with the Iranians that will ensure a complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program. The last time the US negotiated such deal with Iran, it took more than two years to sign the paper.
Trump tore up the agreement in 2018, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), arguing it was defective and could not prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb.
SOURCE: BBC NEWS