Trump scolds Israel and Iran as he accuses both of violating ceasefire

Washington: US President Donald Trump has unleashed a tirade on Israel for violating his ceasefire, saying both it and Iran “don’t know what the f--- they’re doing” in an unprecedented display of rage at a close American ally.

Trump had declared a ceasefire between the two enemy states at 6pm on Monday, US time, saying it would start at midnight and end a conflict that has raged since Israel launched missiles at Iran in the early hours of June 13.

US President Donald Trump lashed Israel and Iran before jetting off to the NATO summit.Credit: AP

But in short order, both sides were accusing each other of violating the deal. A statement from the office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reported by The Times of Israel, said Israel “attacked forcefully in the heart of Tehran” hours before the ceasefire started, killing “hundreds of Basij and Iranian security forces”.

The statement also said a barrage of Iranian missiles then killed four Israeli citizens in Beersheba, a city in the Negev desert in southern Israel, just before the truce was due to begin.

Leaving the White House for the NATO summit in the Netherlands early Tuesday morning, US time, Trump said he had watched coverage of the ceasefire on television all night and was deeply disappointed in the violations, particularly from Israel.

“I think they both violated it. I’m not sure they did it intentionally, they couldn’t rein people back,” he said before boarding a military helicopter.

“I don’t like the fact that Israel went out this morning at all. As soon as I can get away from you, I’m going to see if I can stop it,” Trump told reporters.

“Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs the likes of which I’ve never seen before. The biggest load that we’ve seen.

“I’m not happy with Israel. When I say, ‘OK now you have 12 hours’, you don’t go out in the first hour and just drop everything you have on them. So I’m not happy with them. I’m not happy with Iran either.”

Unprompted, Trump added: “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f--- they’re doing. Do you understand that?”

Netanyahu’s office brushed aside the criticism, saying in the aforementioned statement that Trump expressed his appreciation for Israel during a phone call with Netanyahu, along with his confidence in the stability of the ceasefire.

“Following President Trump’s conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israel refrained from additional attacks,” Netanyahu’s office said.

Later, aboard Air Force One bound for Europe, Trump struck a more conciliatory tone, and thanked Netanyahu for showing restraint.

“Israel, as you know, turned back. They didn’t do that raid this morning, fortunately. That was a big thing - [I] appreciate it,” Trump said.

“They had a lot of planes going, and they were going to do something, and they didn’t do it, and we’re happy about that … The ceasefire is very much in effect, and I think we’re going to keep it there for a long time.”

Later, he declared mission accomplished in a Truth Social post from the plane: “Both Israel and Iran wanted to stop the War, equally! It was my great honor to Destroy All Nuclear facilities & capability, and then, STOP THE WAR!”

But the president’s fiery earlier rhetoric was not limited to Israel and Iran. He also lashed out at the major US news networks for what he said was poor coverage of American strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities on the weekend.

Trump insists the sites were destroyed and is unhappy that journalists are querying the extent of the damage, which is yet to be formally confirmed by the Pentagon or the international nuclear watchdog.

“All night long they’re trying to say: well, maybe it wasn’t really as demolished as we thought,” Trump said. “It was demolished. You take a look at the pinpricks, and you see: that place is gone.”

“CNN ought to apologise to the pilots of the B-2s [bomber planes]. I think MSDNC ought to apologise,” Trump said, referring to MSNBC, a left-of-centre channel.

“These guys, these networks and these cable networks, are real losers. You really are. You’re real losers. You’re gutless losers. I say that to CNN because I watch it - I have no choice, I’ve got to watch that garbage, it’s all garbage, it’s all fake news.”

Hours later, CNN revealed that a Defense Intelligence Agency report on the US bombing operation characterised the damage done as partial, and that core components of Iran’s nuclear program were not destroyed.

CNN cited four sources briefed on the report, one of whom said Iran’s nuclear ambitions had been set back “maybe a few months, tops”.

In a statement to this masthead sent by the Pentagon, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth stood by his earlier assessment that the bombing campaign obliterated Iran’s nuclear ambitions. But he conceded evidence was buried under the rubble.

“Based on everything we have seen – and I’ve seen it all – our bombing campaign obliterated Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons,” Hegseth said.

“Our massive bombs hit exactly the right spot at each target – and worked perfectly. The impact of those bombs is buried under a mountain of rubble in Iran; so anyone who says the bombs were not devastating is just trying to undermine the president and the successful mission.”

The White House dismissed the intelligence assessment as “wrong”, and said it was leaked by “an anonymous low-level loser” in the intelligence community.

The president arrived at the NATO summit on Tuesday evening, local time, and attended a social dinner with other world leaders hosted by King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima. He will then participate in official sessions on Wednesday and return home to Washington that evening.

with AP

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