The Israeli military said the country will “respond with force” after it said Iran fired missiles toward Israel’s north shortly after a cease-fire was announced, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The Economist: “Three questions now hang over the region: can the ceasefire hold; will there be a follow-on diplomatic deal to restrict Iran’s nuclear programme and will the Middle East become more stable after the war?”

“Begin with the ceasefire. Neither Israel nor Iran have formally confirmed the cessation of hostilities, but both have good reason to stop fighting. The theocratic Iranian regime has long chanted ‘Death to America’, but has for decades sought to avoid a direct confrontation with the superpower, preferring instead to rely on proxy militias and occasional diplomacy. It is unpopular at home, its armed forces seem powerless against Israel, and its allies across the region have been weakened. With America’s entry into the war, Iran may now prefer to lick its wounds.”

“As for Israel, it is unlikely Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, will defy Mr Trump after hailing his historic military intervention. Moreover, Israeli military sources reckon they have destroyed nearly all of the targets on their list. Indeed, some suggested Israel might declare victory and stop attacking Iran, even without a formal ceasefire. Mr Netanyahu may now feel he has achieved a legacy-defining victory against Israel’s arch-enemy. Mr Trump, for his part, will not want the war to drag on, having reassured Americans that he was not getting them into another ‘forever war’ after those in Iraq and Afghanistan, which he has long denounced.”

“As for the nuclear program, Iran will not unlearn the technology it has mastered. Humiliated and resentful, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, could yet decide that his regime needs nuclear weapons for survival. Even if most of its facilities have been destroyed, the program might resume in secret.“

“In the fall, long before President Donald Trump embarked on an effort to resolve concerns over Iran’s nuclear program through negotiations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already set Israel on the road to war,” the Washington Post reports.

“After Israel decimated Iran’s air defenses in a missile skirmish and crippled its main ally, Hezbollah, in October, Netanyahu issued a general order to prepare for a strike, the current and former officials said. Israeli intelligence officials began huddling to compile lists of dozens of Iranian nuclear scientists and military leaders who could be targeted for assassination.”

“Meanwhile, Israeli officials were pursuing another track in their preparations — to sway Washington.”

“Only hours after Iran unsuccessfully fired missiles at the U.S. base in Qatar, President Trump is claiming in a Truth Social post that a cease-fire has been reached between Israel and Iran, and that the war will be over,” the New York Times reports.

“This all comes one day after Trump called for regime change and two days after the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites. So this is all a fluid and unclear situation.”

The Wall Street Journal says Israel’s military referred questions about the cease-fire announced by Trump “to the political echelon.”

President Trump thanked Iran for giving “early notice” on its retaliatory missile attack, and called for ending the war between Israel and Iran, Axios reports.

Trump’s post, in which he called the Iranian response “very weak,” suggested he does not intend to retaliate and draw the U.S. further into the war.

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds 79% of Americans surveyed said they worried “that Iran may target U.S. civilians in response to the U.S. airstrikes.” 

“Tell you what, six months in, six months in, Steve, and here we are, turning back on the campaign promises, and we bombed Iran on behalf of Israel. Yes, it was on behalf of Israel. We are entering a nuclear war, the World War III, because the entire world is going to erupt.”

— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), talking to Steve Bannon on his podcast.