US President Donald Trump has taken to Truth Social to warn both Israel and Iran to stop 'shooting' after his calls to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to show restraint appear to have been ignored. Trump says 'final negotiations on peace' are proceeding, subject to 'ignorance or stupidity getting in its way.'
Escalation despite US calls for restraint
Israel launched airstrikes against Iran early on Monday (June 8), despite earlier calls from Trump for restraint. Israel said Iran had launched further missiles in response to the strikes, with people urged to seek shelter as sirens sounded in central Israel. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it had struck military targets 'belonging to the Iranian terror regime' after Iran had earlier launched missiles against Israel for the first time since a fragile ceasefire came into effect in April.
Trump's Truth Social posts
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said: 'Israel and Iran must immediately stop "shooting."' He later added: 'Both sides, Israel and Iran, are looking to do an immediate CEASEFIRE! Final negotiations on "Peace" are proceeding, subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way. The Blockade will remain in place, and in full force and effect, until a "Final Deal" is reached. Things should move quickly.'
The White House has not commented on the Israeli strikes until Trump's Truth Social post today. But Trump had told Fox News Channel he wanted the Iranians to stop firing missiles and return to the negotiating table. He also said he was 'not happy' about Israel's strikes on Lebanon on Sunday (June 7). A senior US official told the Associated Press that Trump had spoken to Netanyahu and called on him not to carry out any immediate response to the Iranian attacks.
Regional reactions
Tehran had earlier warned of retaliation to the Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, which Israel said were retaliation for the Iranian-backed Hezbollah firing at northern Israel earlier in the day. Sirens were heard around Israel with explosions in the north of the country. Israel's ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter said on X that Iran had fired 11 ballistic missiles at Israel and that the response was targeting Iranian surface-to-surface missile launch sites and infrastructure facilities. He wrote: 'If Hizballah fires at Israel, its command centers in the Dahiya will be hit hard. This has nothing to do with Iran. Everyone has had enough of this maniacal Iranian regime.'
Israel said a missile had been launched at the country from Yemen, with no reports of any impact, while sirens sounded early on Monday in the area including the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, which houses US forces. Saudi Arabia said the missile danger in the Al Kharj region had passed.
