In our last exciting episode of As The World Burns, a twelve-day war between Israel and Iran had ended (?) in a cease-fire brokered by Donald Trump and the Qataris. After putting some finishing touches last night’s Final Word post, I went to bed, unaware that another exciting episode was about to air. Around midnight in Washington DC, the Iranians began launching several waves of ballistic missiles into Israel, which had completed its last missions an hour earlier.
For anyone who has observed the process of a ceasefire, this is not unusual behavior. Passions run high in wars, perhaps especially for one that has been waged this long — 46 years — and with genocidal intent, on the part of Iran. Even the recent ceasefire between Pakistan and India, also brokered by Trump, had mutual violations in the first 24 hours. The attempt by Iran to avenge its utter humiliation in this war was a predictable ploy, but it was also a violation of the agreement, and Israel responded in kind by running a small sortie over Tehran:
Explosions were heard in northern Tehran after US President Donald Trump called for all Israeli fighter jets to leave Iran’s airspace.
The IDF reportedly targeted an Iranian military radar system in Tehran.
Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered strikes in Tehran after Iran launched two missiles at northern Israel, hours after the ceasefire had taken effect.
“I have instructed the IDF to respond forcefully to Iran’s violation of the ceasefire with intense strikes against regime targets in the heart of Tehran,” Katz said in a statement.
As the Jerusalem Post notes, Trump got infuriated, mainly at the Israelis for using the last few hours of the period before the deadline to intensify its attacks on Iran. He ‘ordered’ Israel to turn the planes around in a Truth Social post, and exploded in anger this morning on camera at both sides:
President Trump on Israel and Iran: “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.” pic.twitter.com/xrztmebALZ
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 24, 2025
“I’m not happy that Israel’s going out now. There was one rocket that I guess was fired overboard [by Iran]. It was after the time limit, and it missed its target. And now Israel’s going out. These guys gotta calm down. Ridiculous…”
“I didn’t like plenty of things I saw yesterday. I didn’t like the fact that Israel unloaded right after we made the deal. They didn’t have to unload. And I didn’t like the fact that… The [Iranian] retaliation was very strong. But in all fairness, Israel unloaded a lot.”
“And now I hear that Israel just went out because they felt [the deal] was violated by one rocket that didn’t land anywhere. That’s not what we want, I’ll tell you. And I’m telling you, I’m not happy about that, Israel, either.”
Normally Trump refrains from cursing when engaging with the press. The exchanges have clearly angered him, although one has to wonder whether that will mean anything. He seems determined to keep the agreement in place, no matter what. Trump also may not have been fully briefed on the missile salvos from Iran, in which more than one volley clearly violated the deadline. And at least one of those launched just prior to the deadline didn’t miss at all. It hit its intended target, a civilian center in Beersheeba, and it killed four people and injured nearly two dozen others:
Two missiles were fired at Beersheba in a salvo at 5:40 a.m., with one being intercepted and another striking the sixth floor of an apartment complex in the southern city, causing extensive destruction, including collapsing part of the building.
The building was relatively new, and homes had their own reinforced rooms. However, the missile directly hit two safe rooms, killing those inside them, according to a preliminary probe by Home Front Command. One of the bomb safe rooms was destroyed by the impact, the probe found.
Three members of one family were killed in one of the safe rooms, while the fourth person was killed in the second reinforced room.
That’s why Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back against Trump this morning, saying that Israel had to make Iran account for targeting and killing its civilians. Netanyahu agreed to scale down the response but not cancel it:
Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were holding a phone call shortly after Trump made his comments.
In their call, Trump demanded that Netanyahu “completely cancel the attack.” Netanyahu responded that a “strike is necessary,” as per a senior Israeli official.
As such, Israel only struck one site in the Islamic Republic.
The IDF limited their strike to a military radar system for Tehran’s defense, a move that likely limited or excluded any casualties, rather than go after a regime target inside the city. That seems like a reasonable and limited response to the Beersheeba attack, much like the Iranians attempted to craft yesterday to save some face after the US bombing run took out its nuclear programs. At least on this point, both sides should understand each other pretty well.
What happens now? Thus far, after the late exchange, both sides seem to have settled into the truce. How long that will last is anyone’s guess, but the deadline-adjacent provocations have now all stopped. Any more launches from Iran will start this cycle all over again, clearly, but for now, the ceased ceasefire has ceased ceasing, or something.
Check back this afternoon to see if we get another surprise episode of As The World Burns! Let’s hope this is the season finale, and that next season will get renamed The Young And The Restive and focus on the collapse of the mullah Dynasty.
