WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump lashed out at Israel and Iran on Tuesday morning as the ceasefire deal announced hours earlier appeared on the brink of collapse.
“We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f— they’re doing,” Trump said as he departed the White House for the NATO summit in the Netherlands.
Trump announced Monday on social media that Israel and Iran had agreed to a total ceasefire, telling NBC News later that he believed the ceasefire was “unlimited” and was “going to go forever.”
But around 12 hours later, he accused both sides of breaching the agreement.
“I think they both violated it,” Trump told reporters Tuesday morning. “I don’t think, I’m not sure they did it intentionally. They couldn’t reign people back. I don’t like the fact that Israel went out this morning at all, and I’m going to see if I can stop it.”
Trump’s criticism Tuesday morning was the latest mood shift in days of soaring tensions in the Middle East after the U.S. struck nuclear targets in Iran, the first time the U.S. has directly militarily attacked the country. On Monday, Iran launched a retaliatory strike on Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which hosts American troops. No casualties were reported, and hours later, Trump announced the ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Tuesday that Israel struck Tehran overnight, and Iran then launched missiles hours later, killing four Israelis.
Trump warned Israel on social media not to bomb Iran, saying in an all-capitalized post that it would be a “major violation.” He also criticized the Israeli attack in comments to reporters, saying, “I’m not happy with Israel.” He added that he was “not happy with Iran either, but I’m really unhappy if Israel’s going out this morning.”
“ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly ‘Plane Wave’ to Iran,” Trump said in a separate post Tuesday morning. “Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect!”
Netanyahu’s office said that Israel would not carry out additional attacks on Iran after the Israeli leader held a phone call with Trump.
Israel launched attacks on Iran in mid-June, sparking nearly two weeks of tit-for-tat strikes between the two countries. The strikes have killed hundreds in Iran and dozens in Israel, according to the country’s authorities.
Iran backs Hamas and Hezbollah, and Israel has been locked in a years-long war with Hamas sparked by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Since the initial attack, Israeli military operations have killed more than 55,000 people in Gaza, moast of them civilians, according to local authorities.
Astha Rajvanshi and Caroline Kenny contributed.
