Rabat: PonteSud – News Desk
Just hours after Iran launched retaliatory strikes on US military bases in Iraq and Qatar on Monday, US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Iran had agreed to a “complete and total” ceasefire on his platform Truth Social – a claim that immediately sowed confusion about the actual state of affairs.
An Iranian official swiftly denied that Iran had received any such proposal, insisting there was no reason to halt retaliatory action against the US and Israel.
“At this very moment, the enemy is committing aggression against Iran, and Iran is on the verge of intensifying its retaliatory strikes, with no ear to listen to the lies of its enemies,” the official told CNN.
This position was echoed early Tuesday morning by Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who confirmed that no ceasefire had been agreed on. However, he added that Iran would halt its strikes if Israel stopped its aggression by 4 a.m. Tehran time.
While Israel accused Iran of violating the alleged ceasefire, it never paused its own aggression. The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) launched attacks in three waves, continuing until 9 a.m. Tehran time.
Iran, for its part, launched 14 missiles at Israeli military sites, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) stating that its final wave of missile fire occurred just minutes before the ceasefire deadline, in retaliation for Israel’s deadly strikes.
According to Trump’s timeline, Iran was expected to observe the ceasefire first – despite its actions being a direct response to Israel’s aggression, which ignited the war in the first place.
The IOF later claimed that two Iranian missiles were launched mid-Tuesday morning, both reportedly intercepted, causing air raid sirens to sound two hours and a half after Trump’s ceasefire announcement.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz then declared that he had ordered the IOF to “respond forcefully” to what he claimed was a violation by Iran, an accusation Tehran flatly denied.
“In light of Iran’s blatant violation of the ceasefire declared by the President of the United States, through the launch of missiles toward Israel, and in accordance with the Israeli government’s policy to respond forcefully to any breach, I have instructed the IDF to continue high-intensity operations targeting regime assets and terror infrastructure in Tehran,” said Katz well after Israel said it agreed to Trump’s proposal.
In response, Trump blamed both countries for breaking the ceasefire but expressed particular anger toward Israel, instructing it to “stop dropping bombs” and ordering its pilots to return home.
“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,” said a visibly furious Trump to reporters before boarding his helicopter en route to the NATO summit in The Netherlands.
“You know, when I say you have 12 hours, you don’t just go in the first hours and say you’re going to drop everything you have on them,” he added.
Trump also took to Truth social to reprimand Israel: “ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!” he wrote in all caps.
Al Jazeera analyst Ali Hashem highlighted the shift in tone, noting that Trump’s framing, treating Iran and Israel on equal footing, could resonate in Tehran and lend credibility to the ceasefire.
“It might give the impression that Trump is serious about this ceasefire,” Hashem said, questioning whether it might open the door to genuine diplomatic efforts between the two sides.
As both Iran and Israel continue trading accusations, few believe this ceasefire, if it can be called that, will result in any concrete change. As many observers pointed out in Israeli doctrine, the word “ceasefire” often translates to: “you cease, we fire.”
Israeli security officials claimed earlier on Monday that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is the main obstacle to any settlements and renewed their threats to assassinate him – doing away with any pretense of sincerity to uphold truce.
Although this blatant disregard for ceasefire terms may come as a “shock” for Trump, the reality is that this immoral act is nothing new for Israel.
Netanyahu’s colonial state has violated its ceasefire with Lebanon over 1,000 times – a record of impunity that is largely ignored by international media institutions. Just yesterday, Israel bombed multiple areas in southern Lebanon, including the villages of Zrariyeh, Kfar Milki, and Ansar.
Its record in Gaza is no different. Even before it resumed its openly genocidal campaign on March 18, Israel had already violated its January 20 ceasefire agreement with Hamas nearly 1,000 times.
Though bombardments continue, most Palestinians in Gaza now face death not only from airstrikes, but while attempting to access food at so-called “aid centers” that are backed by the US and Israel – not only inefficient but dangerous centers that have replaced trusted institutions like UNRWA.
While it was still under a ceasefire agreement, Israel imposed a total humanitarian blockade on March 2, unleashing a deliberate famine on a population already enduring a livestreamed genocide for over a year. By late May, Israel allowed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to distribute an abysmal amount of aid.
The imposed lack of food and medicine are not the only things annihilating Palestinians. Over 450 Palestinians have been killed by the IOF while trying to access these “humanitarian” sites – sites that the UN itself has labelled “death traps” and “an abomination.”
“Israel’s militarized humanitarian assistance mechanism is in contradiction with international standards on aid distribution,” said United Nations’ human rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan on Tuesday.
“The weaponization of food for civilians, in addition to restricting or preventing their access to life-sustaining services, constitutes a war crime.”
Meanwhile, the genocide in Gaza continues, largely fading from headlines and public discourse. Ceasefire talks have been shelved. And with public attention drifting, the sense of urgency has also dissipated as the world seems to have accepted Gaza’s fate and adapted to Israel’s crimes.
