LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Just a few hours after Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire, its future is in doubt. President Trump warned Israel not to retaliate after it accused Iran of violating the deal and firing missiles towards Israel. For the latest, we have NPR's Daniel Estrin on the line from Tel Aviv. Good morning, Daniel.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: Daniel, how did this unravel so quickly?
ESTRIN: Yeah, it's been a very dizzying turn of events. President Trump told reporters Israel and Iran had agreed to reach a ceasefire, but in the hours before it went into effect, he said Israel dropped a load of bombs on Iran.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: The biggest load that we've seen. I'm not happy with Israel.
ESTRIN: Iran also launched missiles at Israel and killed several people, according to Israeli officials. And then both countries announced a ceasefire. And then Israel said two missiles were fired from Iran toward Israel. Israel says it intercepted them, and Israel's military vowed to retaliate. And that's when Trump posted online, quote, "Israel, do not drop those bombs. If you do, it is a major violation. Bring your pilots home now." Israeli media report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Trump and Israeli jets carried out a small strike on Iranian radar. But Trump said online, Israel will not strike Iran, and he said the ceasefire is in effect. Remarkable, remarkable comments from Trump directing anger at Israel. We'll have to see if this completely unravels the ceasefire or not.
FADEL: I mean, Daniel, listening to you is just such a roller coaster. And you've been hearing from people in Israel and Iran living through all this. What are they saying?
ESTRIN: Well, both Israeli and Iranian governments were initially claiming victory and celebrating the ceasefire, but we've been hearing a very different tone among Iranians and Israelis that our reporting team has been speaking to this morning. In Iran, we spoke to a fashion designer named Zahra. She only gave her first name because she could get in trouble with Iranian authorities for speaking her mind. She's an opponent of the Iranian regime, and she says she is crushed Trump announced a ceasefire. She told us she did not think Israel had Iranians' interests in mind, but that people like her were hopeful the war would lead to the fall of the regime, and now she's fearful there will be more crackdowns on regime opponents. Here's what she said.
ZAHRA: (Speaking Farsi).
ESTRIN: She said Trump's ceasefire was, quote, "ending this war without having defeated the system fully. We can foresee really scary days." She says, "whoever voice their opinion will be framed as pro-Israel and punished."
FADEL: Wow.
ESTRIN: And we also heard frustration from Israelis this morning, Leila. Israel declared a tremendous victory, said it had eliminated the nuclear and ballistic missile threats to Israel. But the Israelis we spoke to said they're not so sure. Maybe Iran would build a nuclear weapon in the future, and they don't see the air war ending. This is Israeli resident Gali Kinkulkin.
GALI KINKULKIN: I'm very skeptical. I am very, very tired and very, very exhausted and depressed. The situation since 7th of October is so bad, and I don't feel like one ceasefire is going to be like, oh, we have a great life again, and - I'm not that relieved or optimistic.
ESTRIN: She's referencing there the October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel and the ensuing Gaza war that drags on. And many in Israel are saying this would be a failure if the moment is not leveraged to strike a deal with Hamas to release the remaining hostages.
FADEL: Just hearing the sort of fear and disappointment and exhaustion there. What happens now, especially with the war in Gaza?
ESTRIN: Well, the Gaza war is not slowing down. It's only, in fact, the opposite. The Israeli military has issued sweeping new evacuation orders in parts of Gaza, and Gaza health - hospital officials say Israeli troops have killed dozens of people trying to get food aid. The military said it opened fire at people gathering near troops.
FADEL: NPR's Daniel Estrin reporting in Tel Aviv. Thank you, Daniel.
ESTRIN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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