Recent exchange of missiles between Iran and Israel highlights diverging views between US president and Israeli PM

The latest eruption of hostilities between Iran and Israel appears to have been contained for now after Donald Trump insisted he called “all the shots” in the Middle East, but in a dangerously fragile region Benjamin Netanyahu has again shown he is ready to take shots of his own.

The exchange of missiles on Sunday and Monday was ample demonstration of the inherent instability of the current limbo between war and peace, but it also shone a bright light on the complex and conflicted relationship between the US president and the Israeli prime minister, frenemies who could determine the fate of the current ceasefire.

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© Photograph: Ronen Zvulun,brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ronen Zvulun,brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ronen Zvulun,brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Netanyahu acknowledges pause in fighting in TV speech but vows forceful response to future attacks

Fears of a return to a full-scale regional war in the Middle East eased on Monday as Israel and Iran said they had halted attacks on each other after an appeal from Donald Trump to “immediately stop shooting”.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, acknowledged the halt in fighting with Iran in a televised speech, but vowed to respond “with force” to future attacks.

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© Photograph: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images

Israel and Iran traded fire Monday in their first attacks since the U.S. struck a ceasefire with Tehran two months ago.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel would retaliate 'with force' against further attacks from Iran, as concerns grow about the return of full-scale war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel would retaliate 'with force' against further attacks from Iran, as concerns grow about the return of full-scale war.

This live blog is now closed. For the latest, read more of our coverage on the Middle East conflict here.

Iranian media is reporting that there were no immediate casualties following apparent Israeli strikes on the Karun petrochemical plant in Mahshahr, a city in Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province.

According to the Fars news agency, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they responded to what they described as an American-Israeli strike on the Iranian petrochemical site by launching a missile attack on a similar plant in the northern Israeli city of Haifa.

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© Photograph: Naama Stern/Reuters

© Photograph: Naama Stern/Reuters

© Photograph: Naama Stern/Reuters

Attacks raise fears of return to full-scale regional war and come after Trump says ‘I call all the shots’, not Netanyahu

• Middle East crisis – live updates

The Israeli military has launched airstrikes on Iran after the Iranians fired missiles at northern Israel in the first exchange of fire between the two countries since a ceasefire was reached on 8 April, raising fears of a return to a full-scale regional war in the Middle East.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels also fired at Israel and warned they would target Israeli-affiliated ships in the Red Sea, further escalating tension.

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© Photograph: Abbas Salman/EPA

© Photograph: Abbas Salman/EPA

© Photograph: Abbas Salman/EPA