,Bochen Han,Zhao ZiwenandAndrew London

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Introduction

A frustrated US President Donald Trump told Israel Tuesday “do not drop those bombs” on Iran, hours after he had said a ceasefire between the two arch-foes had taken effect.

That came after Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had ordered the army “to respond forcefully to Iran’s violation of the ceasefire” after the military reported incoming Iranian missiles. Iran denied violating the ceasefire.

The ceasefire plan was announced by Trump on Monday, stating Israel and Iran had agreed to a “complete and total ceasefire” set to take effect within 24 hours. Both sides initially agreed to abide by it.

This marked a significant shift just hours after the Middle East crisis appeared to widen. Earlier on Monday, Iran had directly retaliated against Israel’s ally, the United States, for strikes on its nuclear sites by firing missiles at an American military base in Qatar.

Since June 13, Israel and Iran have exchanged devastating and deadly strikes. Israel launched its aerial campaign asserting that Tehran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. Iran vehemently denies these claims, maintaining its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.

Follow live updates here as the world reacts to this critical and rapidly unfolding development.