Iran’s threat to strike Israel Sunday came in response to Israeli airstrikes on a southern suburb of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut. Israel said it was retaliating against Hezbollah attacks on the north of the country earlier that day.
It was the second three-way exchange of fire in a week: During the previous tit-for-tat attacks, Iran followed through on its threats and fired missiles at Israel, most of which were intercepted and caused no casualties.
As praise for Trump’s announcement rolled in from world leaders, Vice President JD Vance told CNBC on Monday that Israel “is going to have a seat at the table” and there were elements inside the country “that like the deal quite a bit.”
But by then, it was already clear that if Israel does accept the deal, it will be under protest.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Monday morning that the Israel Defense Forces would not withdraw from the multiple theaters of war where it is deployed.
He said in a statement that together with Netanyahu, he was “leading a clear policy that determines that the IDF will remain in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza.”
The statement, which did not reference the ceasefire, added that Israel was opposed to the idea of its military withdrawing from Lebanon “despite all the existing pressures and those that will still come.”
Netanyahu had made this clear to Trump, he said, without saying when. Katz added he had also made it clear yesterday to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Israel’s northern border with Lebanon was largely quiet following the ceasefire except for one drone that the country’s military said crossed from Lebanon into northern Israel overnight. The Israeli military said it intercepted the projectile and that warning sirens weren’t activated.
By Monday morning, Israeli politicians from across the spectrum were already slamming the deal, despite the fact that its details remain largely ill-defined.
“Trump’s agreement does not bind us. Israel is not subject to the United States, and we are an independent and sovereign nation!” Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s ultranationalist minister of national security, wrote in a post on X on Monday. “We must not compromise on anything less than the dismantling of Hezbollah, we must not withdraw from any territory that our fighters have captured and cleared.”
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also took to social media to call the deal “bad for Israel and for the entire free world,” while insisting Israel would “have to continue the campaign to topple the regime ourselves and in creative ways, and ensure that Iran will never have nuclear weapons.”
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