President Donald Trump issued a stern, public warning to Israel on Tuesday morning, instructing the country not to bomb Iran as the cease-fire he announced just hours before hangs in the balance.
“ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME,” Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social.
In a follow-up post, Trump said: “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 cease-fire is in effect.”
Doubling down on his previous statements, whereby he said that U.S. strikes had “obliterated” three key Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend, Trump added: “Iran will never rebuild their nuclear facilities!”
The warning comes as tensions between the two Middle Eastern countries erupted once more overnight, after Israel accused Iran of violating the preliminary terms of the cease-fire. Iran has denied firing any further missiles toward Israel, and has said it will respond to any Israeli assaults from here on out.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz maintained that a violation has taken place, and said he had instructed the Israel Defense Forces to “respond forcefully.”
“I have instructed the IDF, in coordination with the Prime Minister, to respond forcefully to the violation of the cease-fire by Iran through intense strikes against regime targets in the heart of Tehran,” he said. “The Iranian regime has severely violated the cease-fire declared by the President of the United States and launched missiles toward Israel, and in accordance with the government’s policy as determined—we will respond forcefully to any violation.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.