After nearly two weeks of intensifying hostilities that claimed hundreds of lives and disrupted airspace across the Middle East, Israel and Iran halted their military campaigns Tuesday morning, both sides agreeing to a ceasefire brokered by U.S. President Donald J. Trump.
The agreement came hours after a final exchange of missile strikes in the pre-dawn hours—among the deadliest salvos since the conflict began. Iran’s last barrage killed at least four people in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, while Israeli warplanes targeted sites across Iran, including its military leadership compounds and missile launch facilities.
President Trump, announcing the ceasefire via his social media said, “THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT!” His declaration, issued more than an hour after the ceasefire deadline, capped a tense night of negotiations and violence.
In a televised address later in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel had achieved its strategic objectives. “We have neutralized the nuclear and ballistic missile threat posed by the Iranian regime,” Netanyahu said, citing the destruction of critical Iranian military infrastructure and asserting that Israel now maintains air superiority over Tehran.
Iran’s leadership, in contrast, offered a more reserved response. Hours before the ceasefire took hold, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Iran was prepared to halt further attacks “provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression.” However, he noted that no formal agreement had been signed and that “the final decision” would be made by Iranian leadership at a later time.
While Iranian state television later confirmed the ceasefire had gone into effect at 7:30 a.m. local time, top Iranian officials have remained largely silent since.
The 12-day war—referred to by Trump as the “12 Day War,” echoing the historical gravity of the 1967 Six Day War—was marked by rapid escalation and a flurry of retaliatory attacks. The violence erupted after Israel launched a preemptive strike on suspected Iranian nuclear facilities, prompting retaliatory attacks on Israeli cities and, later, a limited missile strike on a U.S. military base in Qatar.
Iran’s attack on Al Udeid Air Base, which was preceded by a warning and resulted in no casualties, was widely seen as a symbolic move.
But it drew the U.S. directly into shuttle diplomacy, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly holding direct and indirect talks with Iranian officials. Qatari mediation also played a key role, according to senior White House aides.
The human toll has been staggering. At least 24 Israelis have died and more than 1,000 have been injured. In Iran, Israeli strikes reportedly killed at least 974 people—including nearly 400 civilians and over 250 members of the security forces—according to Human Rights Activists, a U.S.-based group that tracks casualties in the region.
The strikes forced temporary closures of airspace over Israel and Qatar. In Beersheba, first responders described a grim scene where missiles flattened residential buildings and even struck reinforced safe rooms meant to protect civilians. “There was no time. The alarms went off and we were already under fire,” one emergency worker told Israeli media.
Commercial air traffic in the region resumed gradually by Tuesday morning. Qatar Airways restarted flights after halting operations overnight, and Israeli skies briefly reopened to emergency flights after the ceasefire was confirmed.
In Washington, the White House framed the ceasefire as a diplomatic victory, noting that the previous weekend’s U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear sites helped push both sides toward the negotiating table. But questions remain about the durability of the truce—and whether Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who previously vowed not to “surrender,” truly endorsed the deal.
For now, the guns have fallen silent. But with much of Iran’s infrastructure in ruins and Israeli cities on edge, the calm remains fragile.
