Israel’s “Safe Return” framework for outbound travel officially went into effect on Tuesday, enabling Israeli citizens and tourists to leave the country by air, land, or sea amid the fluctuating tensions due to the Israel-Iran conflict.

Under the structure, approved Israeli airlines—El Al, Arkia, Israir and Air Haifa—are permitted to operate flights with a strict passenger limit of 50 per flight, aimed at reducing congestion and exposure at Ben Gurion Airport. 

Departing travelers must arrive at Terminal 3 via Gate 2 and are advised to arrive no earlier than two hours before departure. Security checks and check-in are conducted on the ground floor, with transfers to Floor 3 for boarding.

Sea departures are also possible, with ticket purchases arranged directly through shipping companies.

Land crossings into Jordan and Egypt remain another option, including the Taba, Jordan River and Yitzhak Rabin crossings. The Allenby Bridge (King Hussein) crossing, which links Jordan to nearby Jericho, is open only to non-Israeli passport holders.

Travelers who make their way to either of Israel's neighbors can then continue with their outbound international flights.

Meanwhile, the United States has also begun facilitating voluntary evacuations. 

On Saturday, two U.S.-organized flights evacuated roughly 70 American citizens and legal residents to Athens. 

The operation, dubbed “Exodus,” came just before U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear targets. On Friday, Washington evacuated 79 embassy staff and family members to Bulgaria. 

According to the Associated Press, 6,400 people signed up for information on U.S. evacuation assistance in a single day.

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem continues to advise Americans to enroll in the State Department’s STEP program and seek independent routes out of Israel if possible.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday paid a visit to Shamir Medical Center (formerly Assaf Harofeh Medical Center) in Be'er Ya'akov, where they met with wounded victims of recent Iranian missile barrages.

As part of the wartime tour of the hospital, the president and his wife also visited fortified surgical theaters and spoke with the medical staff about the pressures of operating under fire, according to Herzog's office.

Isaac and Michal Herzog visited Shamir's emergency hospital, which was erected inside an underground parking lot, on Friday, as well as the fortified maternity ward, which until recently served as a fitness center.

"I am proud to return to Shamir Medical Center, one of Israel's leading hospitals, both nationally and internationally," said Israel's head of state. "I was deeply impressed by the emergency preparedness, the professionalism and devotion of the medical teams, and the swift and effective mobilization of this underground facility," he added.

"Visiting the fortified maternity ward and meeting the brave new mothers and their families—beacons of hope in the shadow of war—was a moving testament to the resilience of Israeli society," Herzog said.

The president's wife praised medical staff for caring "for both patients and caregivers," saying the hospital's commitment to their protection was "truly heartwarming."

"We visited this center on the second day of the Swords of Iron War, and once again, we witness your sacred work under incredibly difficult conditions," said Michal Herzog, referencing the war sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attacks.

Dr. Osnat Levtzion-Korach, who heads the underground medical facility, thanked the president and his wife for visiting the hospital.

"Unfortunately, in the medical world one always has to be ready for the worst-case scenario," said Levtzion-Korach. "This goes for treatment as well as emergency preparedness, and thankfully our staff here ensured that the hospital and its around the clock care did not stop for a minute, even if it meant to recreate a fully functioning hospital in what was an underground car parking lot just hours before."

Israel's Magen David Adom medical emergency response group said on Monday night that its medics had treated 1,258 casualties since the war with Iran started on June 13, including 16 who were seriously wounded.

Of the more than 1,200 wounded, 266 were treated at the various scenes and did not require evacuation to hospitals, according to the MDA data.

Twenty-four people have been killed in Israel since Tehran started attacking its civilian population centers with missiles on June 13.

Iran plans to resume its nuclear program despite the war with Israel, the head of the Islamic Republic's Atomic Energy Organization was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

“We planned to avoid any interruption in the nuclear industry process,” Mohammad Eslami told the state-run Mehr news agency in an interview. The article did not distinguish between military and civilian nuclear activity.

"Preparations for the revival [of the nuclear program] were foreseen in advance, and our plan is to not allow any interruption in the production and service process," he added.

Israel attacked Iran earlier this month in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a pre-emptive campaign with the goal of eliminating the nuclear and ballistic missile threat to Israel by the Iranian regime.

Prior to the strike, the United States and Iran had been engaged in nuclear talks, however, U.S. President Donald Trump had set a 60-day deadline for the negotiations. The Israeli military campaign began on day 61, after Tehran announced it would not give up uranium enrichment and increase the scope of its nuclear program.

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, welcomed the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran on Tuesday, and urged Iran to resume negotiations and cooperation with the nuclear watchdog.

“I welcome announcements on Iran situation. Resuming cooperation with the IAEA is key to a successful agreement,” Grossi wrote on X, adding that he had written to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi “stressing this step can lead to a diplomatic solution to the long-standing controversy over Iran’s nuclear program.” Grossi “proposed to meet soon,” he added.

Om Tuesday, hours after Trump announced the ceasefire, an Iranian rocket killed four people in Beershva. Additional projectiles were intercepted in northern Israel shortly after the Beersheva strike. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he’d ordered strikes in Tehran following the incidents Tuesday, which Katz said were an “utter violation” of the ceasefire.

In early January, an Israeli official met with Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer on the eighth floor of the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem. A week later, the same official met with then-IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi on the 14th floor of the General Staff Tower at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.

From both meetings, the official emerged with a clear realization—Israel had crossed the Rubicon: An attack on Iran was only a matter of time.

Six months later, the synergy between the eighth and 14th floors—the political and military echelons—enabled the launch of a preemptive strike on Friday, June 13. The military option against Iran, which had been on the table for at least a decade, came to fruition with perfect timing and political approval.

As the IDF finalized the details of the impending attack on Iran, planners realized they needed to replicate the Lebanon strategy—a concentrated, surprising blow to throw the enemy off balance, a sort of "Dahieh Doctrine 2.0," referring to the systematic bombardment of the Hezbollah stronghold in Lebanon during the 2006 Second Lebanon War and later.

"The difference is that with Hezbollah, it took 10 days; with Iran, we did it in the opening strike, within one hour," said an official in the know.

Plans for a confrontation with Iran, targeting its nuclear facilities, had been in development within the defense establishment for years, shaping the IDF's force buildup over the past two decades. Yet, in typical Israeli fashion, those plans were discarded at the last moment to make way for a bold, creative and swiftly crafted new strategy.

"In reality, we began the operational planning for the strike in its current form only in October 2024," said an official privy to the details. "That's when we realized the IDF needed to prepare not just for a pinpoint strike in Iran but for an entire campaign."

Until recently, even senior defense officials considered the idea of attacking Iran far-fetched, a plan destined to remain theoretical. However, three months in the fall of 2024 completely changed that perspective.

Three strikes in September—"Operation Pagers," the air campaign to neutralize Hezbollah's rockets, and the successful elimination of the group's leadership, including Hassan Nasrallah, turned Hezbollah into a weakened force.

"We always said Israel doesn't share a border with Iran, but Iran has a border with Israel—Hezbollah, standing at the fences, ready to respond fiercely if we attacked," said a former military official. "Once that border was erased, a new game began."

In October, the Israeli Air Force executed "Operation Days of Repentance," which included widespread strikes on Iran's air defense systems for the first time, fueling the pilots' appetite for more.

In November, Donald Trump's election to a second term in the White House further emboldened strike advocates, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. By December, Israel's top echelons no longer debated whether the strike would happen—only when.

The target validation process

In the early 2020s, the IDF Intelligence Directorate underwent a structural shift, redirecting resources and personnel toward Iran. "What you're seeing now is the result of those years of effort in the Iran arenas of Military Intelligence and the IAF," said a source.

The target validation process on Iran carried out by IDF Intelligence and the IAF focused on three legs of the nuclear program—the missile array, enrichment facilities and the "weapons group" (mounting a nuclear device on a ballistic missile). Accordingly, more and more intelligence on launchers, warehouses and factories in the Iranian missile array was collected.

Missile systems and enrichment facilities presented their own difficulties, but the intelligence community identified the weaponization group as the toughest challenge.

The deeper intelligence efforts delved, the clearer it became that the bottleneck was the scientists themselves. "We realized we needed to focus on the human factor," said the source.

In 2020, physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, head of Iran's nuclear program, was assassinated in a sophisticated operation on Iranian soil. "A beautiful operation," said someone familiar with many such missions.

The success of the September 2024 strike on Hezbollah, which destabilized the group and effectively decided the campaign, inspired IDF Intelligence. Weeks later, those working on Iran began discussing replicating the Lebanon strategy in Iran.

"Taking out their entire military leadership in one blow," said a source in the intelligence community.

Unlike the scientist operation, where the target list was narrowed over time, here Intelligence expanded it. What began as a plan to kill one or two senior Iranian officials grew to include the commander of the Revolutionary Guards' air force, the Guards' overall commander, Iran's chief of staff, and his deputy.

"When the idea came up, no one believed it could be pulled off simultaneously," said a knowledgeable source. But Intelligence persisted, forming a dedicated team that worked around the clock. The team's findings were presented to the Intelligence Director chief, Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder, and later shared with the IAF.

In recent months, Binder, IAF commander Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar and Operations Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Oded Basyuk held numerous meetings to synchronize the operation down to the smallest details. Over time, the three generals and their teams grew confident that the ambitious plan could succeed.

Unlike the scientists, targeted in their homes, the "generals operation" was planned for a joint meeting of Iran's security elite. To ensure they gathered in one location, a sophisticated deception operation—details of which will remain classified for years—was executed.

Remarkably, the scientist and generals operations matured almost simultaneously. The small team of three Israeli generals, fully aware of both plans, completed this in the final weeks. The opening strike was ready.

Beyond the "decapitation operation," Israel's war plan included other components. The most discussed recently is air superiority. This, too, was addressed only recently.

As plans to strike enrichment facilities developed, it was clear the IAF needed a clear path to Natanz and Fordow. The Iran branch in the Intelligence Directorate's Research and Analysis Division allocated vast resources to mapping Iran's air defense systems, which were plentiful.

As Iran's air defenses were mapped, Intelligence and IAF concluded they could not only clear the path to nuclear facilities but also to Tehran and beyond. The phrase "air superiority in Iran" began as a whisper and grew into enthusiastic discussion.

Creating the appearance of a US-Israel rift

From late May, two weeks before the strike, a "perception operation" began to lull Iran into believing Israel would not attack soon. Orchestrated by the Prime Minister's Office, it included feeding information to Israeli journalists, particularly those not aligned with Netanyahu. The operation centered on nuclear talks between the White House and Tehran, creating the appearance of a U.S.-Israel rift.

Six months before Oct. 7, 2023, the IAF formed a small team of aircrew, mostly reservists, to plan the path to air superiority. The team received an ever-growing list of Iranian air defense battery locations and critical intelligence from Intelligence Directorate Unit 8200's secret unit.

The air superiority team presented the plan to the Air Force commander, who understood the risks but was willing to lose a few planes to achieve the mission. "The goal was no losses, but the Air Force commander's policy allowed for some losses while continuing the plan," the source said.

"Fortunately, we succeeded far beyond expectations, with no planes lost. I think it worked because the enemy didn't expect Israel to strike like this. They lacked drills that prepared them for the moment."

Skeptics in Intelligence doubted the Air Force's ability to achieve air superiority without losses. "When we started, it seemed impossible," said another source familiar with the operation. "Iran's air defenses are both high-quality and numerous. You need to neutralize them quickly, or Israeli pilots start dying in Iran."

Ultimately, the mission was accomplished in just 36 hours with no losses. On the first night, 30 Iranian air defense batteries and a double-digit number of radar systems were destroyed. "The greatest air superiority operation in history," said someone familiar with the details.

The Mossad joined in recent months, deploying drones operated by local agents in Iran to target additional air defense batteries.

While the scientist and generals operations could have proceeded without air superiority, the Air Force's control of Iran's skies greatly facilitated strikes on Natanz, missile sites and other nuclear facilities. It also enabled extensive hunting of ballistic missile launchers, as dismantling Iran's air defenses allowed more drones to operate freely from Israel to Tehran.

"This means you can strike munitions wholesale, from Tehran westward, drastically reducing missile launches toward Israel," said a knowledgeable source. "Instead of hundreds of missiles on day one, we faced dozens. That's a game-changer, reducing pressure and strain in Israel."

‘Preparations began 20 years ago’

Another component, built meticulously over time, was defense. "You can't attack without defense," said Brig. Gen. (res.) Ran Kochav, former air defense commander and Arrow missile head. "Preparations for war with Iran on the defensive side began 20 years ago. That was the reference threat we trained for, building a multi-layered air defense system and conducting joint exercises with U.S. Central Command."

Indeed, IAF officers confirm that air defense and air superiority are two components that could not have been achieved without full cooperation from Washington.

Which brings us to the last component in Israel's war plan against Iran, "the Americans," said an official well-versed in the war plan. "The plan was indeed built without them, but it was impossible to execute it without getting tailwind from them."

Shortly after Trump's January 2025 inauguration, messages from his circle reached Netanyahu, indicating he would not strongly oppose turning the "military option" operational if nuclear talks with Tehran stalled. Trump reportedly lifted restrictions on intelligence sharing, including access to U.S. satellites and radar systems.

While Trump did not commit to joining the strike, several Israeli officials confirm he was "deep in the inner circle."

"Full coordination," one described it. Trump also participated in the deception operation in the days leading up to the surprise attack.

Before June 13, sources continued to push a narrative to Israeli journalists that a U.S.-Iran nuclear agreement was a done deal and that Trump firmly opposed an Israeli strike. "This information was spoon-fed to journalists, unlike similar cases in the past," said one journalist.

An Israel Hayom investigation found that some misleading messages to the Israeli media came directly from Netanyahu's spokespeople. The Prime Minister's Office did not deny quotes attributed to Trump-Netanyahu talks, aiming to project a U.S.-Israel dispute.

An Israeli official familiar with the office said, "Israel surprised Iran with psychological maneuvers.

"The goal was to make Iran's leadership think there'd be no attack, or if there was, it wouldn't be imminent," he added.

Originally published by Israel Hayom.

The Israel Defense Forces will demolish the homes of four terrorists this week who carried out attacks that killed Israelis over the last year, the army said on Monday.

IDF Central Command issued demolition notices for the homes of Mohammad Nazal and Mohammad Zakarneh, both residents of Qabatiya, near Jenin in northern Samaria.

On Jan. 6, they carried out a shooting attack at two nearby locations along Route 55 near the village of Al-Funduq, near Qalqilya in western Samaria. In that attack, Rachel Cohen, 73, and Aliza Reiss, 70, both from Kedumim, were killed, along with police officer Master Sgt. Elad Winkelstein, 35, from Kibbutz Ein Hanetziv.

A third notice was issued for the home of Mohammad Daraghmeh in Tubas, northeastern Samara. On Feb. 4, 2025, during an encounter at the Tayasir checkpoint, Daraghmeh killed two IDF reservists—Sgt. Maj (res.) Ofer Yung, 39, and Sgt. Maj. (res.) Avraham Zvi Tzvika Friedman, 43, and wounded eight additional soldiers, two of them seriously.

The fourth demolition order pertains to the home of Wael Lahlouh, also from Qabatiya, who, along with other assailants, carried out a shooting attack at the Mehola Junction on Aug. 11, 2024. That attack claimed the life of 23-year-old Yonatan Deutsch from Beit She’an and left another civilian wounded.

The home demolitions are part of Israel’s counter-terrorism policy aimed at deterring future attacks.

European Union Foreign Ministers decided on Monday to postpone until July any decision on measures against Israel following the presentation by E.U. foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas of a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

According to the review document, there are “indications” that Israel's action in Gaza place it in breach of its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the Association Agreement.

Kallas said after the monthly meeting of the 27 E.U. foreign ministers—the "Foreign Affairs Council"—in Brussels that she will "address the results" with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.

"Our first goal is to change the situation on the ground [in Gaza] and help the humanitarian aid get in and help the people. So today was the beginning of the debate and not the end," Kallas told reporters after the ministerial meeting.

She stressed that that the E.U.'s priorities "are clear: return to full ceasefire, full humanitarian access and the release of all hostages.

"If the situation does not improve, then we can also discuss further measures and come back to this at the next Foreign Affairs Council in July," Kallas said.

"I will not be the only one who does the outreach [to Israel]. Other ministers will do it as well and express the same things that we have said today: that we have a structured dialogue about this, with Israel," she added.

On Monday, Spain, Ireland, Malta and Slovenia called for a suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, while others such as Belgium, Luxembourg and Sweden stressed the need for action.

However, Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania and Romania opposed suspension of the agreement.

Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, also called for an arms embargo on Israel.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told reporters that Israel had “clearly violated” Article 2 of the E.U.-Israel agreement. "Ministers would draw the consequences at their meeting in July," he said.

Such a suspension would require unanimity among the 27 member states.

‘Outrageous and indecent’ 

Israel has described the E.U. review report as “outrageous and indecent.”

In a document sent to the European External Action Service, the diplomatic service in charge of executing all international relations of the European Union, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said the review was “a biased and extremely one-sided summary of many anti-Israeli voices.”

The report is "absurd,’’ the ministry continued. "It reflects an unprecedented process directed at a democratic state in the midst of war."

The E.U. report is largely based on findings from U.N. bodies, which are very anti-Israel.

The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem recalled the "strategic reality Israel is facing: Since October 7, Israel has been fighting a war on seven fronts. Iran, with its extremist ideology, is aiming to eliminate the State of Israel. Iran’s regime has long pursued the annihilation of the Jewish state through a nuclear program, ballistic missiles and a network of terrorist proxies like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.’’

According to the ministry, the report "fails twice."

"It fails morally, neglecting to address any damage inflicted on Israeli civilians, who since before and after the October 7 attacks, have always been the only target of endless Palestinian terror attacks," the ministry said.

"It fails to mention Hamas’s stealing of humanitarian aid, and most astonishingly—in a report focused only on Palestinians, it fails to mention any crimes by Hamas against its own citizens, despite continuous and abundant proof, including videos, of regular public executions of its opponents," the ministry added.

The report, the ministry continued, "aims to deny Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism. It does not cite any of the many positive actions undertaken by Israel in the humanitarian field and neglects to mention the continuous refusal by Hamas of a U.S.-brokered hostage deal (the ‘Witkoff Proposal’) which Israel has agreed to."

The Israel-Iran war was also high on the agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday.

“Today there was a broad consensus among European countries that we must continue the discussions, because diplomacy is the way to achieve a long-term agreement with Iran in order to prevent it from having nuclear weapons,” Kallas said.

“Iran has been a threat for decades, and the E.U. has always said that it should not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, as it would pose a threat to international security. But military actions are always fraught with risks and uncertainties. What matters now is minimizing the risk of further escalation,” she added.

Originally published by the European Jewish Press.

As the world welcomes the news that Israel and Iran have agreed to a ceasefire, Saturday's decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to strike Iran's nuclear facilities and join Israel's war to destroy the Islamic regime's path to a nuclear bomb remains a historic moment in U.S. leadership and crystallized the deep affection Trump has for the Jewish people and the State of Israel. 

In the days before the U.S. joined the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in attacking Iran's nuclear installations, it was clear that Israel's mission was succeeding. In just 48 hours, its air force gained control of the skies over Tehran and unsettled Iran's offensive positions by destroying many of its missile launchers. 

Trump ran on a clever campaign of resuscitating American exceptionalism and he is a leader who reveres strength and admires those who project power and a determinative spirit. 

For their part, Jewish Americans would be wise to learn from Israel's muscular response toward Iran and reflect on how, in a remarkable display of Jewish grit and resolve, Israel's isolation in the global arena is diminishing as allies like the US affirm their support and adversaries must reckon with a proud and effective people who are committed to protecting their country.  

Indeed, the IDF's brilliance in battle tracked with Trump, bolstering his praise for Israel. Last Friday, after being asked by a reporter if he would tell Israel to halt its attacks against Iran, Trump answered, "I think it's very hard to make that request right now. If somebody is winning, it's a little bit harder to do than if somebody's losing." 

His endorsement of Israel's precision pounding of Iranian targets culminated in a powerful address to the nation delivered in the hours after the US military conducted its successful strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities.

Trump highlighted partnering with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and thanked Israel's military for its work in degrading the Iranian threat. 

In just over three minutes, Trump demonstrated a philosemitism that, to date, has been unmatched by any sitting US leader. 

It also bears mentioning that Israel's spectacular military power has elicited a whimper from Western European powers, whose own dithering attempts at diplomacy in response to Iran's nuclear ambitions have been surpassed by Israel's path to regional powerhouse. 

Released after America's strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities, the leaders of Germany, France, and the UK, also known as the E3, affirmed "support for the security of Israel" in a statement that lacked the condescension that all too often accompanies any Israel-worthy communication coming from Western Europe.  

While domestic realities and cultural shifts make it unlikely that countries like France and Britain will relinquish their place as Israel's frostier allies, one can expect that, at least for the foreseeable future, these nations will grow more muted in their criticism of an empowered Jewish state.   

Israel's recent actions against Iran convey an inversion of the Jewish American experience, which is guided mainly by assimilationist tendencies and misguided assumptions that diluting Judaism's particularities while engaging in outreach to our enemies will render our community more palatable to those seeking our demise. 

For decades, U.S. Jewry has sought acceptance in left-leaning academic, cultural and political spaces by embracing "social justice" movements, with their overt anti-Jewish platforms doing little to sink liberal Jewish backing. 

It's a phenomenon that was evident during the summer of civil unrest in 2020 when over 600 Jewish groups signed onto a full-page New York Times ad, calling the overtly anti-Jewish Black Lives Matter group the "current day civil rights movement in this country," that represents our "best chance at equity and justice." 

Whether it's Jewish voters granting outsize support to candidates whose antisemitism is excused away by a younger generation desperate to gain acceptance in trendy circles or legacy groups issuing squeamish declarations of pro-Israel support in a bid to cover for a party that makes no moves to pivot from its antisemitic leanings, these actions inevitably lead to a weakening of Jewish identity. 

It's a feebleness that is easily detected and manipulated by our adversaries, who, in recent years, have launched an insidious campaign of intimidation and harassment across US cities and campuses. 

The surge of antisemitism in America has mirrored a Jewish American entrenchment in liberal causes. 

Dan Senor, host of the Call Me Back podcast, confirmed in his "State of World Jewry" address last month that American Jewry is, simply put, not "meeting its moment"  and that the Jewish  "awakening" witnessed across generational and political arenas after the October 7 slaughter in Israel has dissipated with the passage of time. 

Israel's mission in Iran has shifted global currents in its favor as more nations naturally wish to align with a fierce actor and courageous entity that understands the difference between strategic allies and ideological foes. 

For Jewish liberals who for years have put their faith in the wrong people and policies, it's time to recast priorities away from universal values and take a page out of the Israeli playbook on what it means to be a strong Jew.

Sirens sounded in Haifa and across northern Israel on Tuesday morning, just over an hour after Jerusalem agreed to U.S. President Donald Trump's call for a bilateral ceasefire with Iran and around three hours after the truce was supposed to take effect.

One launch was detected and intercepted, according to reports.

"Following the sirens that were heard in the past few minutes: As of now, no reports of casualties have been received, except for a man who was injured on his way to a shelter. Further updates will be provided as necessary," Magen David Adom reported.

There were no initial reports of damage.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned that "Tehran will tremble," while Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that he had ordered "heavy strikes to be carried out" in the heart of the Iranian capital.

"In light of Iran’s blatant violation of the ceasefire declared by the President of the United States—by launching missiles toward Israel—and in accordance with the Israeli government’s policy to respond forcefully to any breach, I have instructed the IDF, in coordination with the Prime Minister, to continue intense operations targeting regime assets and terror infrastructure in Tehran," Katz stated.

"In light of the severe violation of the ceasefire carried out by the Iranian regime, we will respond with force," IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said during a situational assessment.

The Israeli government announced earlier on Tuesday morning that it had agreed to a ceasefire with Iran after achieving all its objectives in “Operation Rising Lion.”

The government statement followed Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire, which went into effect at 7 a.m. Israel time. The Iranian regime had fired missile barrages leading up to the ceasefire, killing four people in a direct hit on an apartment building in Beersheva.

Israeli politicians from across the ideological spectrum said on Tuesday that the apparent ceasefire between Iran and Israel was a strategic success that now requires action in Gaza, and may portend fresh challenges vis-à-vis the Islamic Republic.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, who belongs to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party, lauded the "historic achievements" made against Iran.

Netanyahu, "in historic cooperation with U.S. President Donald Trump, kept his promise to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and ensured the eternity of Israel," Karhi wrote on X.

"The mission in Gaza is not yet complete, and this is the main mission now: eliminating Hamas, returning the hostages and advancing the emigration plan [for Gazans wishing to leave the Strip]," Karhi wrote.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionism Party who has in the past challenged decisions by Netanyahu to pause the fighting against Hamas in Gaza, tweeted on Tuesday: “Now full force into Gaza, finish the job: Destroy Hamas and retrieve our hostages and ensure, Hashem willing, many years of security and growth from a position of force for the People of Israel.”

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, chairman of the Yesh Atid Party, also referenced the coastal enclave in reacting to the ceasefire with Iran. “And now Gaza. It's time to finish things there too. Return the hostages, end the war. Israel needs to start rebuilding.”

Ending the war in Gaza was also the demand from Yair Golan, the leader of the far-left The Democrats opposition party.

“The campaign against Iran has concluded with a clear security achievement,” Golan tweeted, adding, “And this is the moment to complete the mission: to bring back all the hostages, end the war in Gaza.”

The terms of the ceasefire “must be carefully examined” as to whether “it prevents Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons,” and also the conditions for reapplying sanctions, “including the resumption of hostilities,” Golan added.

Golan said that the result vis-à-vis Iran would not have been possible “if Israel were not a democratic, strong and united state.”

He also criticized the Netanyahu government’s judicial reform effort, writing that it is time to “permanently halt the regime coup that threatens to make Israel weak, divided and vulnerable.”

Avigdor Liberman, leader of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu opposition party, criticized the circumstances surrounding the ceasefire that Trump announced shortly before an Iranian missile killed four people in Beersheva.

"Against the backdrop of the incredible military achievements of the IDF and the Mossad in the war against Iran, the final chord is particularly jarring and bitter,” wrote Liberman, referencing the tragedy in Beersheva.  

“Instead of unconditional surrender, the world has entered into difficult and tedious negotiations, when the ayatollah regime has no intention of giving up—not on uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, not on the production and equipping of ballistic missiles, nor on supporting and financing terrorism in the region and around the world,” he added.

A ceasefire “without a clear and unambiguous agreement will certainly lead us to another war in two to three years, and under much worse conditions," Liberman said.