An air of uncertainty hanged over the fragile ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran brokered by the United States of America and Qatar.
Shortly after the announcement of the breakthrough, Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz accused Iran of violating the ceasefire.
Katz vowed to “respond forcefully to Iran’s violation of the ceasefire with intense strikes against regime targets in the heart of Tehran”.
Iran, however, denied firing missiles at Israel after the ceasefire began. Even so, Iran’s security council has warned that “any further aggression will be met with a decisive, firm, and timely response”.
Iran had earlier said it would respect the ceasefire if Israel did the same.
Overnight, Tehran endured one of its worst nights of the conflict, while officials say four people were killed in Israel.
This came after Iran launched missiles at a US airbase in response to strikes on its nuclear sites over the weekend – Qatar said all the missiles were intercepted.
The new development negates the confidence of US President Donald Trump, who at 06:08 BST posted on social media that a ceasefire between Iran and Israel had come into effect.
Before the truce began, both sides exchanged heavy fire overnight.
Iranian state media say waves of missiles from Israel have hit the capital and other cities – at least nine people have been killed, including a nuclear scientist.
Some residents told BBC Persian they saw one of the “heaviest” barrages since the conflict began 12 days ago.
In Israel, at least four people have been killed and 22 injured in Beersheba.
(Based on BBC reports)
