Iran and Israel pause fighting as Trump pushes immediate ceasefire

Iran and Israel halted attacks on each other on Monday, but the pause came with a warning label: Tehran said it could resume hostilities if Israel kept striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Donald Trump, who pressed both sides to stop "shooting," said negotiations for an immediate ceasefire were in the "final throes."

The latest exchange was the first missile fire between Iran and Israel since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect in April 2026, underscoring how quickly the wider conflict can reignite. The war had entered its 101st day when the new escalation broke out, and the flare-up again tied the Israel-Iran confrontation to the parallel fighting in Lebanon.

Trump used Truth Social to say Israel and Iran must immediately stop "shooting," then said both sides were looking to do an immediate ceasefire. He also said peace talks were moving ahead, framing the moment as a last stretch rather than a settled breakthrough. That message was meant to preserve Washington’s diplomatic track, which had come under strain as the missile exchange threatened to derail efforts to reach a deal with Tehran.

Israel also signaled a pause. An Israeli official said Monday afternoon that the sense was that "this round of fighting is behind us," after the Israeli government decided to halt its strikes against Iran for now. But the broader military picture did not change as much as the headline suggested, because Israel’s operations against Hezbollah were still expected to continue.

That is where the truce remains most vulnerable. Iran warned it would resume hostilities if Israel continued attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon, making the Lebanese front the clearest trigger for another rapid escalation. The latest fighting followed Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, and the conflict’s immediate future now depends on whether those operations stay limited or widen again.

For now, both Tehran and Jerusalem are claiming a pause, and Trump is claiming momentum toward an immediate ceasefire. Yet the underlying military pressures remain in place, the Lebanon front is still active, and the risk of renewed missile fire is measured in hours and days, not months.