A projectile is pictured crossing the night sky over the West Bank city of Nablus early Sunday as Israel’s military reported that Iran launched salvos of ballistic missiles toward Israel over its strikes in Lebanon. Photo by Alaa Badarneh/EPA
June 7 (UPI) — Iran on Sunday launched air strikes at Israel for the first time since the beginning of a fragile cease-fire, which it said was in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon.
The missiles, which the Israel Defense Forces said had been intercepted, are the first direct attack on Israel since a cease-fire went into effect on April 8 that has mostly paused the war in Iran, The BBC, The Guardian and Axios reported.
The attacks follow an announcement on Sunday that Israel had launched strikes at alleged Hezbollah targets in Beirut — attacks which it has continued throughout the cease-fire — and some of which have been in suburban neighborhoods.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who reportedly has been briefed on Iran’s actions, told Iran “that’s enough, get back to the table” for peace negotiations, Fox News reported.
“The Israeli army must stop its attacks on southern Lebanon and the suburbs, and if it expands its attacks to that region or responds to Iran’s action, it will face more devastating and regrettable blows,” General Ali Abdollahi, head of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya command, said in a statement.
Trump has reportedly also told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold back after the Iranian strikes, which Netanyahu agreed to on the condition that Hezbollah — which is funded by the Iranian regime — not launch strikes into northern Israel from Lebanon.
The United States and Iran have been negotiating an end the war for more than a month, as a cease-fire has mostly held but the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked, preventing the shipment of oil and other products from the Middle East.
