US President Donald Trump on Monday announced that Israel and Iran have reached a ceasefire, hours after Iran launched a missile attack on the Al Udeid airbase in Qatar – the largest United States military base in the Middle East.
“The ceasefire is now in effect. Please do not violate it!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Monday.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has agreed to the truce proposal, and Iranian state TV reported that the ceasefire had begun.
However, Israel has ordered strikes on Tehran after accusing Iran of violating the truce – an allegation rejected by Iran.
Here is what happened in Qatar, what Trump has said, and the latest on the ground.
Did Iran attack the US base in Qatar?
Yes.
On Monday evening, consecutive flares were seen and loud explosions were heard in Qatar’s capital, Doha, alongside other parts of the country.
In a statement, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said its attack was in response to the “blatant military aggression” by the US on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Tehran said it attacked the Al Udeid airbase because it “serves as the command centre of the US Air Force and is the largest strategic asset of the American terrorist army in West Asia”.
Qatar said it had successfully shot down 18 of 19 missiles deployed. No casualties were reported.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani on Tuesday reiterated Qatar’s condemnation of Iran’s missile attack on the Al Udeid airbase, calling it an “unacceptable act”.
“The attack on the state of Qatar is an unacceptable act, especially as Qatar has been making great diplomatic efforts in order to de-escalate the situation,” said Sheikh Mohammed, adding Doha was “taken by surprise” by the move from what it considers a “neighbourly” country.
Earlier, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest against Monday night’s attack.
But Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson defended the attack, saying it was a legitimate response under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
The attack was retaliation for the “unprovoked aggression against Iran’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty” by the US on Sunday when it hit three of Iran’s nuclear sites, Esmaeil Baghaei wrote on X.
Iran has stressed that Monday’s attack was not directed at the “brotherly” state of Qatar.
What did Trump say about the ceasefire?
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that a “complete and total” ceasefire has been reached between Iran and Israel.
In his post at 22:00 GMT, Trump wrote that the ceasefire would take effect “in approximately 6 hours from now”.
He additionally specified a timeline:
- The initial six-hour window, which ended at 04:00 GMT, was to allow Iran and Israel to complete their “final missions”.
- Iran would start the ceasefire first at 04:00 GMT on Tuesday.
- Israel would follow 12 hours later at 16:00 GMT.
- Israel must stick to the ceasefire for 12 hours, after which the ceasefire will be considered to be in full effect.
- This timeline will mark the official end to what he termed the “Twelve Day War” between Israel and Iran.
Has Israel agreed to the ceasefire?
The Israeli prime minister’s office released a statement saying that Netanyahu has accepted the ceasefire and will deliver a statement later on Tuesday.
The statement added that Israel has achieved “all objectives” of its operation against Iran.
“Israel has removed a dual immediate existential threat – both in the nuclear and ballistic missile fields,” the statement said.
“In light of the achievement of the operation’s objectives, and in full coordination with President Trump, Israel has agreed to the president’s proposal for a bilateral ceasefire,” it added.
This came after Dan Illouz, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, opposed the ceasefire, saying the only deal the government must sign is Iran’s “surrender agreement”.
Tel Aviv-based political commentator Ori Goldberg told Al Jazeera that Netanyahu’s claims that all objectives were secured before the ceasefire are “ridiculous”.
“It is really unclear, to say the least, what Israel’s goals were. Over the past week, we heard Israel talk about everything from the decapitation of the nuclear programme to regime change.”
Goldberg said Netanyahu had no choice but to back the ceasefire due to the damage caused by Iranian attacks and pressure from the Trump administration.
“Netanyahu decided to gamble on Trump coming to his rescue. Trump did, and Netanyahu is therefore obligated to assist in Trump’s goal, which was and still is ultimately securing the regional deal and not launching a regional war.”
Did Iran agree to the ceasefire?
Iran’s top security body said on Tuesday it had agreed to the truce. The Supreme National Security Council, however, added Tehran does not trust Israel and has its “hands on the trigger”, ready to “deliver a decisive … response to any violating act”.
Sheikh Mohammed, who is also Qatar’s foreign minister, urged all parties to abide by the ceasefire brokered by the Trump administration. Sheikh Mohammed said Qatar, on the request of the US, reached out to Iran to help mediate the Israel-Iran ceasefire.
Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem said that Qatar played a mediation role, helping to bring this [conflict] to an end.
“US President Trump spoke about this, saying that – despite the attack that took place on Al Udeid – Qatar played this role. It’s, of course, another victory for Qatari diplomacy,” he said from Tehran.
What is the latest on the ground?
An Iranian missile struck a building in Israel’s Beersheba on Tuesday morning, killing at least four people and injuring several others.
The Times of Israel reported that Israel intercepted two Iranian ballistic missiles on Tuesday.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz instructed the Israeli military to “respond forcefully to Iran’s violation of the ceasefire with intense strikes against regime targets in the heart of Tehran”.
Iran’s military has denied the Israeli claim that it launched missiles at Israel over the past few hours in a short statement carried by state media.
In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump warned Israel against dropping bombs in Iran, saying: “ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!”
“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!”
Trump’s history of ceasefire claims
Last month, Trump claimed he had helped broker a ceasefire after four days of tit-for-tat missile and drone attacks between South Asian neighbours India and Pakistan.
However, violations of the ceasefire were reported hours after Trump’s announcement on May 10. Both the nuclear-armed neighbours blamed each other for breaching the ceasefire agreement.
While the situation in South Asia has been calm since, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Trump on June 18 that the ceasefire was achieved through talks between military officials on both sides, rather than US mediation, according to Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
The Trump administration took credit for mediating the ceasefire to end the war in Gaza. The ceasefire was announced on January 15 and took effect four days later.
On March 18, Netanyahu unilaterally ended the ceasefire and resumed attacks on Gaza, killing thousands since then. Trump supported Netanyahu’s decision.
Since Israel launched the war on Gaza in October 2023, it has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, and a total blockade since March 2 has resulted in deaths by starvation and malnutrition. After immense global pressure, Israel allowed limited UN-led aid deliveries to resume on May 19. Later, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli and US-backed body, was formed to distribute aid in the Palestinian enclave. But rights groups say the aid distribution centres have turned into “human slaughterhouses”. On Monday, Israel killed at least 43 people who were seeking aid in Gaza.
On the campaign trail, Trump had promised to end the war between Russia and Ukraine on his first day in office. This did not happen.
After multiple talks conducted between US officials, separately with Russian and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia, the three sides have been unable to agree on a full ceasefire.
