Israel-Iran conflict Highlights: Volatile ceasefire holds, but doubts persist; Iran focuses on rebuilding, negotiations

El Al Israel Airlines is working on an airlift to bring back to Israel tens of thousands of travellers stranded by widespread flight cancellations following the start of the Israel-Iran war on June 13, it said on Tuesday.

El Al, Israel’s flag carrier, said that in the wake of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran after 12 days of fighting and with the gradual opening of Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, it would boost its schedule, use its full fleet and add thousands of seats in the next 24 hours.

The airline – which has cancelled regular flights through June 27 – said it would operate one-way flights from New York, Los Angeles, Bangkok, London, Paris, Rome, Athens, Budapest, Bucharest and Tbilisi.

A fragile ceasefire appeared to hold on Tuesday after nearly two weeks of intense fighting between Iran and Israel, during which the US and Israeli forces launched major strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. The truce followed pressure from US President Donald Trump, who castigated both sides for breaching the ceasefire and intervened to prevent further escalation. Iran signaled it would adhere to the truce provided Israel did the same, while Israel claimed it had already achieved its military goals and was halting further attacks.

Tensions flared again after Israel accused Iran of launching missiles post-ceasefire—an accusation Tehran denied. In response, Israel said it destroyed a radar installation near Tehran but held back from further strikes following a direct call between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump, en route to a Nato summit, later declared the ceasefire “in effect”, asserting US diplomacy had succeeded in pausing hostilities.

Both countries claimed strategic success as the truce took hold. Israel’s cabinet declared the objectives of “Operation Rising Lion” had been met, citing the elimination of what it called an “immediate dual existential threat” from Iran’s nuclear and ballistic capabilities. Tehran, however, framed Israel’s decision to stop fighting as a forced retreat, with the Revolutionary Guards praising a final missile barrage as a blow to Israeli deterrence.

Despite the ceasefire, casualties continued to mount. In Israel, a missile strike on Beersheba killed four civilians, while in Iran, an Israeli airstrike reportedly killed nuclear scientist Mohammad Reza Seddighi Saber, who had been under US sanctions. The situation remains tense, with both sides warning they will retaliate if the truce is broken.

China’s foreign minister Wang Yi said Beijing is in contact with both Iran and Israel and hopes to see a “genuine ceasefire,” adding that all parties should resume dialogue on an equal footing, a ministry statement on Tuesday said.

Wang, in his call with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, said that China had immediately “voiced condemnation” after US strikes on key nuclear facilities in Iran on Saturday.

“Military strikes on nuclear facilities that are under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency seriously violate the purposes of the UN Charter and international law,” Wang added.

Oil prices accelerated losses on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump said China can continue to buy Iranian oil, providing reassurance over crude supply in Middle East.

International benchmark Brent slumped 4.5 percent to $68.26 per barrel, while the main US crude contract WTI shed 4.6 percent to $65.34, after plunging earlier over a fragile Iran-Israel ceasefire.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Tuesday that a European accused of spying on “sensitive and military” sites was arrested in the country’s south.

“A European was arrested by security forces from the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps… in Hormozgan province” in the south, the Guards’ Sepahnews website said, noting that “the individual… entered Iran as a tourist”.

“He was gathering intelligence on sensitive and military sites,” it added

Aboard Air Force One, Trump told reporters that he does not want regime change in Iran. “If there was, there was, but no I don’t want it. I’d like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible,” he said. “Regime change takes chaos, and ideally we don’t want to see so much chaos.”

This is a U-turn from his previous statement where he had said, “If the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???”

Iranian media reported that loud explosions were heard in Northern Israel. Iran International reported that the Israeli Air Force struck an Iranian radar site north of Tehran.

Iranian media also said that the Basij Forces commander was killed by Israeli strikes.

The attack came shortly after Trump declared on Truth Social that “Israel is not going to attack Israel”.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority demanded on Tuesday that a ceasefire deal announced in the Iran-Israel war be widened to include the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

“The Palestinian Presidency welcomed US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire agreement,” president Mahmud Abbas’ office said in a statement carried by official news agency Wafa, adding “we demand the completion of this step by achieving a ceasefire that includes the Gaza Strip”.

Less than an hour after he issued a warning to Israel against bombing Iran on his social media platform, Trump said that Israel will not attack Iran.

“ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly “Plane Wave” to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect! Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he wrote.

French President Emmanuel Macron cautioned that the situation surrounding the Israel-Iran conflict remained “unstable” despite US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire declaration.

“The situation clearly remains volatile and unstable. I think it’s a very good thing that President Trump is calling for a ceasefire,” Macron told reporters during a visit to Norway.

Noting reports of missiles having been fired after the ceasefire announcement, the French president said that “the last few minutes have shown that the situation remains very fragile”.

Iran on Tuesday said that at least 610 civilians had been killed and over 4,700 wounded in the Islamic republic since the start of the war with Israel on June 13.

“They are all civilians,” health ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said. He announced the increase from the previously reported toll of over 400 dead and 3,056 wounded.

Those killed in the Israeli strikes included 13 children, the youngest of whom was two months old, the ministry said. Five doctors and rescue workers were also killed.

Iran’s government said it had “taken the necessary measures” to ensure the continuation of its nuclear programme.

“We have taken the necessary measures and are taking stock of the damage” caused by the strikes, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohammad Eslami, said.

“Plans for restarting (the facilities) have been prepared in advance, and our strategy is to ensure that production and services are not disrupted,” he mentioned.

The Kremlin on Tuesday pushed back against criticism that it had not done enough to back Iran, saying it had taken a “clear position” by condemning U.S. and Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic.

President Vladimir Putin has condemned what he called “unjustified” U.S. attacks on nuclear sites in Iran, with which he signed a strategic cooperation treaty in January. He said on Monday that Russia would try to help the Iranian people, although he gave no specifics.

Iran’s armed forces accused Israel of launching strikes at the Islamic republic until Tuesday morning, after US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between the two foes.

“The Zionist regime launched three waves of attacks on sites in Iranian territory until 9:00 am (0530 GMT) today,” a spokesman for the armed forces command was quoted as saying on state TV.

Iran’s prison authority has “transferred” prisoners out of Evin prison after it was hit by Israeli strikes, the judiciary said on Tuesday.

The prison authority “transferred the inmates who were serving their sentences in this prison (Evin) to other facilities within Tehran province… to safeguard the rights of the prisoners and to provide space for emergency response teams”, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said.

Israeli opposition Leader Yair Lapid has said that he supported Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attack on Iran’s nuclear program because of intelligence that he had been shown.

Lapid was briefed on the pending attack on the evening of June 12, hours before the first Israeli airstrikes against Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran on Tuesday denied it launched missiles at Israel in the “last few hours”, after Israel accused it of doing so following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire.

The general staff of the Iranian army “denied the launch of missiles from Iran to the occupied territories (Israel) in the last few hours”, state television reported.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz had earlier said Israel would “respond forcefully to Iran’s violation of the ceasefire” after the military reported incoming Iranian missiles.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that Israel will “respond with force” to what he called Iran’s “utter violation” of the ceasefire declared by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Katz added that he has instructed the Israel Defense Forces, in coordination with the Prime Minister, to continue intensive strikes in Tehran targeting regime assets and terror infrastructure.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has ordered the military to launch powerful strikes against regime targets in Tehran in response to Iran’s missile attacks, which he said violate the ceasefire proposed by US President Donald Trump.

“In light of Iran’s complete violation of the ceasefire and missile launches toward Israel, I have instructed the IDF, in coordination with the Prime Minister, to continue intense operations targeting regime sites and terror infrastructure in Tehran,” Katz told Israeli media.

Air raid sirens blared across northern Israel on Tuesday after the army warned of incoming missiles from Iran, just hours after both countries agreed to a ceasefire.

Israeli media earlier reported that a test ceasefire was in place until 7 pm local time, during which Israel would refrain from launching any military operations. The government said it would assess Tehran’s response before committing to a longer-term truce.

The Israeli military has reported an “incoming barrage of missiles from Iran” targeting northern Israel, according to spokespersons.

This comes despite the earlier announcement that a ceasefire between the two countries had gone into effect Tuesday morning.

European stock markets opened higher on Tuesday after Israel announced it had accepted a “bilateral ceasefire” with Iran, proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Frankfurt DAX jumped 1.9 per cent, Paris’s CAC 40 gained 1.7 per cent, and London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.5% in early trading.

Iran has been accused of detaining the family members of a journalist working for the London-based Farsi news outlet Iran International, in what the channel described as retaliation for its coverage of the ongoing conflict with Israel.

The network condemned the move as “an appalling act of hostage-taking” aimed at pressuring the journalist to resign.
“This deeply reprehensible tactic marks a dangerous escalation in the regime’s ruthless campaign to silence dissent and suppress independent journalism,” the outlet said in a statement.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Iran and called on both sides to uphold the agreement.
“If this ceasefire succeeds after the decisive US military strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, it is a very good development,” Merz wrote on X.

Mit den amerikanischen und europäischen Partnern werden wir am Rand des heutigen NATO-Gipfels in Den Haag beraten, wie die Lage nun weiter stabilisiert werden kann. 3/3

— Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz (@bundeskanzler) June 24, 2025