Iranian missiles were intercepted this Wednesday over Jerusalem and the West Bank more than an hour after President Donald Trump announced a two-week bilateral ceasefire with Iran, highlighting the fragility of the agreement reached under Operation Epic Fury.
Explosions of intercepted missiles were also heard in Tel Aviv, as the Israel Defense Forces identified projectiles launched from Iranian territory and, according to Israeli media, responded by attacking the launch sites in Iran.
Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates issued near-simultaneous alerts and activated their air defenses in response to a wave of attacks, reported Reuters.
Israeli media explained that the attacks were expected: the ceasefire would not take effect until Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz, a central condition of the agreement, through which approximately 20% of the world's oil flows.
The pact was announced by Trump on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday night, less than two hours before the deadline he had set for 8 p.m. Eastern Time. Hours earlier, Trump had
The mediation was led by the Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, who conveyed a 10-point proposal from Iran to Washington that Trump described as a "viable basis" for negotiations. Sharif announced that he had invited delegations from both countries to meet in Islamabad on Friday.
Trump declared to the AFP that "we have a 15-point deal, most of which are favorable", and described the agreement as "a total and complete victory. 100 percent. Without a doubt."
Filed under: