President Trump demanded Israel and Iran stop shooting after a new round of fire between the countries briefly escalated tension in the Middle East before appearing to calm Monday.
The strikes stood to threaten the ceasefire, a wider conflict in the Middle East and efforts to reach a deal between Iran and the United States.
Trump said negotiations were proceeding.
Iran opened fire towards Israel Sunday after Israel targeted an area in southern Beirut, in Lebanon. Israel's military said it had struck the area in response to Hezbollah’s fire on northern communities in Israel. Israel's targets included a petrochemical plant, according to an Israeli military spokesperson.
The Iranian backed Houthis also announced it launched a missile towards Israel.
"Israel and Iran must immediately stop 'shooting,'" Trump wrote on social media Monday.
He said each nation was looking for an immediate ceasefire.
President Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday, according to a White House official.
Iran’s military announced a cessation of operations via state media, but warned of further measures if aggression continued, including in southern Lebanon. Netanyahu acknowledged the stop in fire, citing Iran’s own halt.
“If the terrorist regime in Iran makes the mistake of attacking us again, we will respond with force,” Netanyahu said in an address. “Israel has every right to self-defense, and we will exercise that right whenever necessary. I say this to you just as I say it, with appreciation and respect, in my good conversations with my friend President Trump. With unity, determination, and wisdom, we will defend the State of Israel.”
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President Trump in recent weeks appeared to express frustration with Netanyahu as Israel carried out operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, as the U.S. mediated a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.
Axios reported Trump called Netanyahu “crazy” in a call earlier in the month, after actions in Lebanon appeared to prompt Iran to threaten to leave negotiations at the time.
But Trump has touted his relationship with Netanyahu still, noting they were on the same page in an interview with NBC News' "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker last week.
“We get along very well. We've been great comrades. We did a very, very, big number on a certain country that was nothing but trouble for 47 years. I disagree with him on a couple of things I'd like to see,” Trump told Welker, but added that he’d like to “see a more surgical attack on Hezbollah.”
Axios reports Trump told the outlet he warned Netanyahu he could be fighting alone if he went back to war with Iran.
“There's been conflict going on, despite the fact that there is a ceasefire. Whether the trading of fire between Israel and Iran ultimately unravels the broader effort to reach a durable end to this conflict remains to be seen,” said Steven A. Cook, a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. “I will say this. The Iranians, almost immediately after the Israelis responded, said that they were going to stand down. It seems what the Iranians were doing were testing whether Trump could restrain the Israelis, and when the Iranians fire missiles on Israel, there is no way that the president can get the Israelis to stand down. It's just runs counter to their defense doctrine."
While Cook said Operations Roaring Lion and Epic Fury had helped repair the relationship between Trump and Netanyahu from the president’s first term through, he noted a difference in strategic goals.
“It was an unprecedented level of military cooperation, but their strategic goals were quite different, and those strategic goals are now abundantly clear, and the president, like previous presidents, is looking for a negotiated way out, whereas, as the Israelis don't believe a negotiated way out will ultimately ameliorate or mitigate their security concerns about Iran and Hezbollah,” Cook said.
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Meanwhile, efforts to reach a deal between the U.S. and Iran continued, though Trump noted the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would remain in place until a deal is reached.
Trump wrote on social media that “Final negotiations on “Peace” are proceeding, subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way. The Blockade will remain in place, and in full force and effect, until a “Final Deal” is reached. Things should move quickly.”
It was not immediately clear Monday how the negotiations were proceeding.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X ”Diplomacy and defense are the two wings of national power; we have neither abandoned the field nor the negotiating table.”
Other stakeholders continued to urge peace. IAEA director general Rafael Grossi called the negotiations in a “complicated phase” during a meeting Monday with the board of governors, while Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged space for negotiations.
“As we work earnestly and painstakingly, together with our brothers and partners, to find a peaceful diplomatic solution to the conflict, and especially when the final objective is just about to be achieved, we sincerely urge all sides to exercise restraint and give peace a little more chance,” Sharif wrote.
Some analysts still acknowledged strategic alignment between Israel and the US broadly.
“I think, again, fundamentally there is alignment on big picture strategic interests between the US and Israel, and how we see the broader region. I think that's an alignment that has lasted for decades, and will continue to be this, be there on this tactical situation,” said Alex Gray, CEO of American Global Strategies, who served as National Security Council chief of staff during Trump’s first term.
“I think that the Netanyahu government does not see restraint as an imperative in this situation the way the Trump administration does. There's no question about that. I think that the relationship will continue to be one of the president pursuing what he sees to be the U.S. interest, and ultimately the Netanyahu government — be very candid about it — the Netanyahu government is reliant on the United States in many ways, militarily, diplomatically, and they're going ultimately, I think, having they're going to fall in line behind the leadership of President Trump, even if there's a bit of tactical tension between now and then,” Gray said.
The Trump administration expects further talks between Israel and Lebanon, according to a source familiar.
