Israel and Iran said on Sunday they would pause strikes after a fresh exchange of fire, with Benjamin Netanyahu saying Israel would hold off on attacking Iran “for now” and Tehran announcing it would stop striking Israel. But both sides made clear the guns have not gone quiet for good: each warned it would retaliate if the ceasefire is broken again.
The shift came after Iran fired a wave of missiles at Israel on Sunday, prompting Israeli air strikes in western and central Iran. Netanyahu later said in a televised address that “the fire is contained,” while warning Israel would respond “forcefully” if attacks resume. The move is being watched closely because it follows the first exchange of fire between the two sides since the April ceasefire, a stretch of roughly two months in which direct clashes had been on pause.
Mohammad Reza Aref, Iran’s first vice president, cast the ceasefire as a victory for Tehran, saying Israel “was forced to beg once again for Iran to accept a ceasefire.” He added: “We do not seek war,” but “in defending our soil and our values, we will not hesitate for a moment.” His comments underlined the uneasy nature of the pause: both governments are signaling restraint, yet neither is backing away from the threat of retaliation if the fighting starts again.
The wider picture is already shifting beyond the battlefield. Israel has lifted some of its restrictions on the public, flights within Iran have resumed, and evacuation orders in southern Lebanon remain tied by the Israeli military to what it calls Hezbollah’s violation of the ceasefire agreement. That makes the ceasefire line less a finish than a warning, especially as Trump said in a phone call that the United States and Iran are “very close to signing a very powerful deal,” telling Netanyahu that “we have to use sense.”
For now, the immediate question is whether the pause holds long enough to prevent the next strike. What is clear is that both Israel and Iran have chosen restraint only under the shadow of a promise to hit back harder if this ceasefire fails the way the last one did.
