Following sharp criticism from US President Donald Trump, Israel delivered merely a symbolic military response to Iran's Tuesday morning ceasefire violation, restricting its retaliation to a single radar strike north of Tehran after the American leader intervened to prevent a broader attack.
"Israel, don't drop those bombs," Trump declared. "If you do it is a major violation. Bring your pilots home, now!" The president had earlier told White House reporters that "Israel and Iran have been fighting for so long they don't know what the f*** they're doing."
Sources familiar with the situation revealed that Trump received updates throughout the night, confirming Iran had breached the ceasefire first. "Despite his harsh public criticism of Israel, the Israeli Air Force response will still proceed, with Trump containing and possibly supporting it."
However, the sources emphasized that "given the president's stance, the response will be significantly reduced from the original plans. Several Israeli Air Force aircraft already proceeding toward their targets received orders to return to Israel." Ultimately, Israel confined its action to striking one radar installation.
Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that "Israel will not attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly 'Plane Wave' to Iran, the ceasefire is in effect!"
Nevertheless, Axios reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during his conversation with the American president, insisted that the aircraft could not be completely recalled and that Israel required some response to Iran's ceasefire violation.
