Iran Launches First Missiles at Israel Since Ceasefire Agreement

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) accused Iran of launching missiles at the country on June 7.

“Sirens were sounded in several areas across the country following the identification of missiles launched from Iran toward Israel,” the IDF wrote in a post on X.

Defense systems were used to intercept the threat, the IDF stated.

The attack received a swift response from Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s minister of national security.

“Tonight Tehran must burn!” Ben-Gvir exclaimed in an X post on June 7.

The June 7 attack was the first time the regime targeted Israel since a tentative ceasefire took effect in early April.

The IDF released an update a few hours after the attack, saying that it would “strike the enemy with full force the moment the green light is given.”

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem announced it was closing its office and its branch office in Tel Aviv on June 8 and issued instructions to shelter in place.

Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Gilad Erdan, sent a message to U.S. President Donald Trump on X, stating, “Mr. President, Iran deceives you, Israel respects you, Israel must strike back, hard.”

Trump told Fox News that the latest acts of aggression were “certainly not going to help negotiations.”

“What I would suggest to Iran: You’ve shot your missiles, that’s enough, get back to the table and make a deal,” Trump told Fox’s Trey Yingst on June 7.

This missile attack came hours after Trump said in an interview on “Meet the Press” that the United States was “very close” to securing a deal with Iranian officials. 

“We’re having very good negotiations with the people that are leading the country now,” Trump said. “It’s the third group that we’ve been dealing with, and they are different, and you could say it’s regime change, actually, because these are very different people. I find them to be more rational, very smart.”

Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the national security commission of the Iranian parliament, defended the June 7 missile attacks launched on Israel.

“The violation of the ceasefire by the U.S. in the Persian Gulf and the crimes of the Zionist regime against Palestine and Lebanon show that you only understand the language of power and force,” Azizi wrote. “Therefore, the Resistance Front will also speak to you in the same language.”

Earlier in the day, Israel struck neighborhoods in Beirut, the first time Israel targeted Lebanon’s capital city since the United States announced a ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon last week.

“The two sides agreed with the guidance of the United States to swiftly advance the creation of pilot zones in which the Lebanese Armed Forces will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors,” reads a joint statement regarding the ceasefire that was released on June 3.

Israel also led airstrikes in southern Lebanon on June 6, killing nine people, including three members of the Lebanese military.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called the fallen “martyrs” and condemned the strikes as “a flagrant violation of Lebanese sovereignty and of international law and norms.” 

Aoun’s statement also emphasized his country’s attempts to convince Washington to step in and end the escalating attacks in his country’s southern territory. He called upon the international community to “assume its responsibilities and put an end to these repeated attacks.” 

Israel and Lebanon were scheduled to hold additional talks in a trilateral meeting with the United States to reach a lasting deal on the week of June 22.

However, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, did not agree to the deal.

Hezbollah has historically been aligned with the Islamic regime in Iran and has continued to launch its own attacks against Israel, including launching attacks following the Hamas terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel. 

Continued fighting between Hezbollah and Israel within Lebanon’s borders has complicated negotiations to end the ongoing conflict in Iran. 

Just a few days earlier, Trump confirmed a report that he asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon during a June 1 telephone call. 

“I was a little bit perturbed at him, constantly fighting with Lebanon,” Trump said. “You know, at some point I said, ‘Bibi, we’ve got to stop this.’”

However, after that call, Netanyahu said Israel’s stance toward Hezbollah “remains unchanged.”

Trump then said during his “Meet the Press” interview that although he and Netanyahu have been “great comrades,” the two disagree “on a couple of things.”

The president also said he was not demanding that Lebanon be part of a short-term deal but that he hoped to see the situation there improve.

“I’d like to see Lebanon have a better life,” he said. “I’d like to see a more surgical attack on Hezbollah. I think it should be more surgical, and we can help them with that, or we can recommend Syria. Syria is doing a very good job of cleaning up their act.” 

Trump told Axios that he was going to call Netanyahu and urge him not to retaliate against Iran.

Kimberly Hayek and Ryan Morgan contributed to this report.