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Trump fumes at Israel over Iran strikes, accuses ‘both sides’ of ceasefire violations

“Israel, don’t drop those bombs!” – US President warns Israel of “major violation” after IDF vows to retaliate following Iranian missile attack after ceasefire went into effect.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

US President Donald Trump expressed frustration with Israel on Tuesday, after Jerusalem vowed to retaliate following Iran’s violation of the hours-old ceasefire.

Iran launched two ballistic missiles towards Israel roughly three and a half hours after the ceasefire took effect on Tuesday morning, prompting Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir to pledge retaliatory strikes on Tehran.

“In light of the severe violation of the ceasefire committed by the Iranian regime, we will strike with force,” Zamir said.

The missile attack, detected at approximately 10:30 a.m. Israel time, came hours after multiple volleys of missile fire just before the beginning of the ceasefire, leaving four dead and dozens injured in southern Israel.

Trump demanded Israel cancel its planned retaliatory strikes on Iran, while calling Israel’s response to the ceasefire violation “ridiculous.”

“I’m not happy that Israel is going out now,” Trump told reporters. “There was one rocket that, I guess, was fired after the time limit, and it missed its target. Ridiculous.”

The president went on to criticize Israeli strikes overnight, after talks with administration officials regarding a ceasefire, calling them excessive.

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“I didn’t like plenty of things I saw yesterday. I didn’t like the fact that Israel unloaded right after we made the deal. They didn’t have to unload. And I didn’t like that the retaliation was very strong.”

“But, in all fairness, Israel unloaded a lot. Now I heard that Israel just went out because they feel that they were violated by a rocket that didn’t land anywhere. That’s not what we want, I’ll tell you. And I’m not happy about that, Israel, either. All I do is play both sides.”

When asked whether Iran violated the ceasefire, Trump blamed both countries, chastising Israel for carrying out major attacks on targets in Iran after agreeing to a ceasefire, but before its implementation.

“I think they both violated it. I’m not sure they did it intentionally.”

“Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs the likes of which I’ve never seen before, the biggest load that we’ve seen. I’m not happy with Israel. When I say… ‘you have 12 hours,’ you don’t go out in the first hour and just drop everything you have on them.”

“But I’m really unhappy if Israel is going out this morning because of one rocket that didn’t land.”

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“We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f*** they are doing.”

Shortly afterwards, Trump took to his Truth Social account to reiterate his call on Israel not to respond to Iran’s attack, arguing that an Israeli reprisal would constitute a “major violation” of the ceasefire deal.

“ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!”

Forty minutes later, Trump wrote that Israel had reversed course and would maintain the truce, despite Iran’s violation.

“ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly “Plane Wave” to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect! Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

“IRAN WILL NEVER REBUILD THEIR NUCLEAR FACILITIES!”

Iran earlier on Tuesday denied reaching a deal with Israel for a ceasefire, claiming instead that Iran would merely be willing to cease its attacks should Israel end its air campaign.”

“As of now, there is NO ‘agreement’ on any ceasefire or cessation of military operations,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi tweeted.

“However, provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 a.m. Tehran time, we have no intention to continue our response afterwards.”

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An Israeli official expressed astonishment at Trump’s comments on Tuesday, claiming that the president had privately backed Israel’s right to retaliate following the Iranian missile attack.

Despite Trump’s claim Israel had backed off on retaliating on Tuesday, explosions were heard in northern Iran, reportedly at a power station in Babolsar.

Israeli sources say the strike came after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke with Trump, telling the president that Israel must respond to Iran’s attack, after which Trump insisted Israel limit its retaliation to a single, symbolic airstrike.