On June 23, two days after the US launched air-strikes against Iran's nuclear sites [11] in what is being dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer, Iran launched missiles at al-Udeid air base [12], headquarters for US Central Command's regional operations and host to some 8,000 US troops. The US said nearly all the missiles were intercepted and their were no casualties. In a post on TruthSocial [13], President Trump shortly later claimed a ceasefire between Israel and Iran has been reached, with Israeli media reporting that it was brokered by Qatar. Sources also told Reuters [14] that Iran had tipped off Qatar authorities before the attack, who then warned the US—accounting for the light damage and raising the possibility that, as in US-Iran brinkmanship of early 2020 [15], the supposed Iranian retaliation was choreographed to allow Tehran to save face. The US, Israel and Iran alike are now all claiming victory, and it remain unclear how seriously Tehran's nuclear capabilities have in fact been degraded. (BBC News [17], The Guardian [18], JP [19], TWZ [20], NYT [21], NDTV [22], FirstPost [23])
Shortly before the ceasefire went into effect, Iran fired two ballistic missiles at the southern Israeli city of Beersheba. Israeli missile defense intercepted one, while the second struck [24] a residential apartment building, killing four people and wounding at least 22. Israel also fired more missiles into Iran. (LWJ [25], NBC [26])
It is estimated [27] that Iran has fired 590 missiles at Israel since the onset of the war, leaving 28 people dead and over 3,000 wounded. Estimates of the number of Iranians killed in Israeli strikes range from 400 to 800. (LWJ [28], UN News [29])
