BEERSHEBA, Israel (AP) 鈥 Israel and Iran on Tuesday accepted a ceasefire plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump to end their 12-day war that roiled the Middle East, after Tehran launched a retaliatory limited missile attack on a U.S. military base in Qatar.
The acceptance of the deal by both sides came after Tehran launched an onslaught of missiles targeting Israel that killed at least four people early Tuesday morning, while Israel launched a blitz of airstrikes targeting sites across Iran before dawn.
However, Israel's military said it had detected another Iranian barrage hours after the start of the ceasefire, showing how dangerous the situation remained. Sirens sounded in northern Israel and explosions could be heard as Israeli air defenses fired.
Netanyahu accepts ceasefire as Iranian state TV says fighting has stopped
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had agreed to a bilateral ceasefire with Iran in coordination with Trump.
Netanyahu said that he had reported to Israel鈥檚 security cabinet Monday night that Israel had achieved all of its war goals in the 12-day operation against Iran, including removing the threat of Iran鈥檚 nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Israel also damaged Iran鈥檚 military leadership and several government sites and achieved control over Tehran鈥檚 skies, Netanyahu said.
鈥淚srael will respond forcefully to any violation of the ceasefire,鈥 Netanyahu said.
Heavy Israeli strikes continued in Iranian cities until shortly before 4 a.m., followed by Iranian barrages that sent Israelis hurrying into bomb shelters as the sun rose.
Writing over an hour after a deadline passed for Iran to halt its attacks, Trump wrote on Truth Social: 鈥淭HE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!鈥
Iranian state television reported that the ceasefire went into effect at 7:30 a.m., but Iranian officials have not commented since Trump鈥檚 announcement. Hours earlier Iran's top diplomat said the country was prepared to halt airstrikes.
鈥淎s of now, there is NO 鈥榓greement鈥 on any ceasefire or cessation of military operations,鈥 Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in a post on X. 鈥淗owever, provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 am Tehran time, we have no intention to continue our response afterwards.鈥
Araghchi added: 鈥淭he final decision on the cessation of our military operations will be made later.鈥
Iranian missiles kill 4 in Israel
Israel's military said Iran launched 20 missiles toward Israel before the ceasefire began. Police said they damaged at least three densely packed residential buildings in the city of Beersheba.
First responders said they retrieved four bodies from one building and were searching for more. Earlier, the Fire and Rescue service said five were bodies were found before revising the number downward.
At least 20 people were injured.
Outside, the shells of burned out cars littered the streets. Broken glass and rubble covered the area. Hundreds of emergency workers gathered to search for anyone else trapped in the buildings.
Police said some people were injured even while inside their apartments' reinforced safe rooms, which are meant to withstand rockets and shrapnel but not direct hits from ballistic missiles.
Trump says ceasefire is in effect
Trump鈥檚 announcement that Israel and Iran had agreed to a 鈥渃omplete and total ceasefire鈥 came soon after Iran launched a limited missile attack Monday on a U.S. military base , retaliating for the . The U.S. was warned by Iran in advance, and there were no casualties.
Trump鈥檚 announcement on Truth Social said the ceasefire beginning about midnight Washington time would bring an 鈥淥fficial END鈥 to the war.
Trump describes conflict as 鈥12 Day War鈥
Trump gave the conflict between Israel and Iran a name: the 鈥12 Day War.鈥 That recalls the 1967 Mideast war, known by some as the 鈥淪ix Day War,鈥 in which Israel fought a group of Arab countries including Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
Trump鈥檚 reference carries emotional weight for the Arab world, particularly Palestinians. In the 1967 war, Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem from Jordan, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, and the from Syria. Though Israel later gave the Sinai back to Egypt, it still holds the other territories.
Trump communicated directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure the ceasefire, according to a senior White House official who insisted on anonymity to discuss the Monday talks. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff communicated with the Iranians through direct and indirect channels.
The White House has maintained that the Saturday bombing helped get the Israelis to agree to the ceasefire and that the Qatari government helped to broker the deal.
It鈥檚 unclear what role Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran鈥檚 leader, played in the talks. He said earlier on social media that he would not surrender.
Attacks force temporary closure of Israel's skies
Israel鈥檚 Airports Authority said Iran's barrage forced them to close the country's airspace to emergency flights for several hours.
Some flights were forced to circle over the Mediterranean Sea, according to Israeli media.
Israel鈥檚 airports have been closed since the war with Iran began, but a handful of emergency flights started arriving and departing over the past few days.
By early Tuesday, Qatar Airways resumed its flights after Qatar shut down its airspace over the Iranian attack on Al Udeid Air Base. Flight-tracking data showed commercial aircraft again flying in Qatari airspace, signaling Doha believed the threat on the energy-rich nation had passed.
Conflict has killed hundreds
In Israel, at least 28 people have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded in the war. Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 974 people and wounded 3,458 others, according to the Washington-based group Human Rights Activists.
The group, which has provided detailed casualty figures from Iranian unrest such as the protests surrounding in 2022, said of those killed, it identified 387 civilians and 268 security force personnel.
The U.S. has evacuated some 250 American citizens and their immediate family members from Israel by government, military and charter flights that began over the weekend, a State Department official said.
There are roughly 700,000 American citizens, most of them dual U.S.-Israeli citizens, believed to be in Israel.
___
Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad, Abby Sewell in Beirut, Elise Morton in London, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Ella Joyner in Brussels, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Stephanie Liechtenstein in Vienna contributed to this report.
