The "12-Day" War: Iran and Israel Agree to a Ceasefire

June 30th, 2025

Arnav Goyal

Note: More information on the hostilities can be found in our special report; however, this is a more in-depth look into just the ceasefire.

On June 23, 2025, tensions in the Middle East had a seismic development; US President Donald Trump announced in a post on Truth Social that both Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire within their conflict. This ceasefire was highly unexpected, considering that Israeli-supported US strikes on Iran had inflamed tensions in the Middle East, leading to further tensions and strikes against Israel.

For context, Israel and Iran engaged in multi-week hostilities that proved to be chaotic for the Middle East region, due to conflicts over Iran’s nuclear program and its future. This started when Israel bombed many Iranian nuclear facilities, including Natanz and Isfahan, both of which house much of Iran’s enriched uranium. Seeing this, Iran retaliated, and the ensuing conflict soon became a back-and-forth power showoff as to who’s boss. These hostilities were only further exacerbated by US strikes on Iran, leading to inflamed tensions between Iran and Israel, with the US also involved. However, after the strikes, a breakthrough happened between the parties.

President Trump posted a few hours after Iran struck US bases that both parties—Iran and Israel—had reached a ceasefire. President Trump announced an outline for a ceasefire Monday evening, which has been acknowledged by all three parties. The terms aim for a 12-hour cessation of hostilities, after which the war will be considered ended. He announced an outline for a ceasefire, which has been acknowledged by both parties. The terms include:

Iran accepts the ceasefire for 12 hours after Midnight Eastern
After that, Israel accepts the ceasefire for 12 hours
Both parties do not fight after their 12-hour ceasefire is over
Once the 24 hours have been concluded, both parties agree to the ceasefire

For more information, here is President Trump’s Truth Social post on the ceasefire.

President Trump has called it the “12 Day War,” which is a play on names pertaining to the 6 Day War. This war is where Israel exchanged strikes with a host of states, including Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq. The 6 Day War reshaped the Middle East, creating ethnic and geographic boundaries that still exist today, such as the present-day border of Israel. Moreover, the war led to the fleeing of millions from various regions, such as Gaza, similar to the mass exodus from Tehran after Israel’s first wave of strikes on Iran.

Yet, this ceasefire is not perfect. Politicians on both sides have raised questions as to how both parties will halt tensions in the long term, especially if Iran refuses to make concessions over its nuclear program, which go against Israeli and US aims for the region.

However, the ceasefire hasn’t stopped hostilities from taking place mere hours after the ceasefire was supposed to start. Both countries exchanged numerous hostilities, including missile strikes, leading to a near-collapse of the ceasefire deal. As Israel launched numerous missiles at Iran, they further accused Iran of launching numerous missiles at them. This fragility encompasses the major situation in the Middle East, the delicate balance of power that must be maintained. To strike or not to strike is the big question here. This has been a focal point in the ceasefire, and President Trump did not hesitate to call out both parties. During an impromptu press conference while departing for the NATO summit, he stated, “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f— they’re doing.”

However, in the end, both parties, through further negotiations, have not violated the ceasefire since such remarks. Israel was publicly warned by the President that more aggression should not happen, which turned out to be the case. With that, the fragility of the Middle East and reports of Iranian nuclear facilities being breached by only months could lead to a ceasefire violation by either party, showing the staunch divide between the two parties.

Extemp Analysis by Rowan Seipp:

Question: Will a ceasefire between Israel and Iran hold?

AGD: Tell a story from the conflict—preferably one that understands the importance of the situation.

Background: Explain the tensions between Arab nations and Israel and also how Iran has been involved since the start of the current war.

A: No, because of inflamed tensions

P1: Iran nuclear program

P2: Israel military involvement

P3: Increased US Military aid

One important theme to imply throughout the speech is that Iran's nuclear program has not been damaged enough to cripple infrastructure and that with no international backlash what is stopping Israel from trying again.