Trump says he and Israel have called off Iran attack after getting assurance that deal is imminent

The Times of Israel is liveblogging Sunday’s events as they unfold.

US President Donald Trump says he has called off a major attack on Iran after being assured by Tehran and other Middle East countries that a framework for a deal to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz and “end the Iran nuclear threat” has been reached, adding that Israel is also on board with holding off on a major strike against the Islamic Republic.

“The USA is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at levels of military terror, strength and Power not seen since World War II,” Trump writes on Truth Social.

“Despite this, we have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern countries to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to,” he continues.

“This would include the Immediate, complete, and total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat,” Trump claims.

Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL,” he adds.

“The country of Israel joins me in this commitment. Get to work, everybody, and get it DONE,” he adds.

Since the outbreak of the Iran war, Trump has repeatedly threatened to carry out major threats against Iran’s energy sites only to walk it back, claiming mediators had assured him of an imminent breakthrough in negotiations for a diplomatic settlement.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has reportedly urged US President Trump to abandon his plan for a massive escalation against Iran, Axios reports, citing two unnamed US officials and another source with knowledge of the details.

According to the report, Riyadh’s de facto leader spoke Saturday to Trump and “expressed concern and asked for clarity” about the president’s plan for large-scale new strikes on the Islamic Republic, and called on him to take a step back.

Israeli airstrikes continue in Gaza for a second straight day, allegedly killing at least four Palestinians, despite US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a breakthrough in efforts to implement last year’s Gaza ceasefire agreement.

Palestinian health officials say Israeli warplanes have carried out separate nighttime strikes in Gaza City and Deir al-Balah.

A man and his wife were killed and four people were wounded in an airstrike on an apartment in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, while two more people, including a child, were killed in a strike on an apartment in Gaza City, medics say.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF, which generally says its strikes are aimed at terror operatives posing a threat to Israel and its forces.

Israel has agreed to halt strikes in Gaza starting on Sunday, senior Palestinian figure Mohammad Dahlan announces, revealing that he received assurances to that effect from US President Donald Trump’s top aide Jared Kushner.

“After Hamas and the Palestinian factions agreed on the 15-point [disarmament] document, Mr. Jared Kushner confirmed to us that he agreed with the Israeli side that it will stop the attacks on Gaza starting tomorrow morning,” Dahlan writes in a Facebook post.

The post represents a highly rare public weigh-in by Dahlan, a former Gaza security chief for the Palestinian Authority, who is living in exile in the United Arab Emirates.

Dahlan has become a close adviser to UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, and Kushner has also closely consulted with him while advancing his plan for the postwar management of Gaza.

Dahlan has preferred to largely remain behind the scenes, but one of his aides confirmed his involvement in the Hamas disarmament talks for the first time earlier this week.

Hamas accepted the Board of Peace’s disarmament plan on Thursday, in a major breakthrough for the US-led body overseeing the postwar management of Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to comment publicly on the plan, but a pair of statements attributed to a “senior Israeli official” have indicated that Jerusalem does not deem the proposal sufficient and accordingly will not carry out any withdrawals from Gaza as the plan requires. Meanwhile, Israel conducted a wave of bombings in Gaza on Saturday.

A homemade bomb has killed three people — including the woman carrying the bomb, who reportedly may not have been aware she was carrying explosives — and injured at least 21 in an explosion near an upscale restaurant in central Moscow, authorities say.

The explosion occurred just before 8 p.m. local time close to an Italian restaurant located in one of Moscow’s seven Stalin-era skyscrapers at Kudrinkskaya Square, the police say.

Russia’s Anti-Terrorism Committee says that an unidentified woman tried to get into the restaurant but was stopped by a security guard, the state RIA news agency reports.

It says the security guard and a customer at the Balzi Rossi Italian restaurant were killed in the blast that followed, along with the woman who had been carrying the bomb.

Those injured received wounds of varying seriousness, the police say.

The authorities do not name those killed or injured, nor do they say who they think might have been responsible.

The Kommersant daily newspaper cites its own sources as saying that the bomb had been intended to maim and kill guests who were enjoying themselves on the restaurant’s summer terrace outside.

It suggests that the bomb was set off by someone else remotely and that the woman carrying it may not have known that it was an explosive device.

The restaurant’s website says the venue had been closed for a private event.

The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.

There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.

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