Trump says Israel and Iran 'don't know what the fuck they're doing'
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Israel and Iran "have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the fuck they're doing".
Speaking to reporters before getting onto his helicopter to go to the Nato summit in The Hague, Trump said he was unhappy with both Israel and Iran for breaking the ceasefire agreement he brokered.
Reserving his harshest criticism for Israel, he said: "Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and dropped a load of bombs the likes of which I've never seen before, the biggest load 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 drop everything you have on them. So I'm not happy with them. I'm not happy with Iran either."
Trump announced overnight that the warring parties had agreed to a “complete and total” ceasefire. He said that Iran was scheduled to end hostilities at 5am GMT, and Israel at 11am GMT.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
But on Tuesday morning, Israel Katz, the Israeli defence minister, said that Tehran had violated its side of the agreement and launched missiles towards Israeli territory.
An Israeli military official told AFP that two missiles launched from Iran were intercepted, while Tehran denied that it had breached the ceasefire.
Trump gave Israel's claims short shrift.
"I'm really unhappy if Israel is going out this morning because of one rocket that didn't land that was shot - perhaps by mistake - that didn't land. I'm not happy with that," he told reporters.
"Israel unloaded a lot and now I hear Israel just went out because they felt they were violated by one rocket that didn't land anywhere... I'm not happy about... I've got to get Israel to calm down now."
Trump said he thought both Iran and Israel had violated the ceasefire.
"I'm not sure they they did it intentionally... I don't like the fact that Israel went out this morning at all and I'm going to see if I can stop it."
Earlier, Trump issued a stark warning to Israel, urging it not to launch further attacks on Iran. He posted on Truth Social: “ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!”
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the military to launch “intense strikes” on Iranian targets in central Tehran in response to what he called Iran’s breach of the ceasefire.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
