United States President Donald Trump has warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he might find himself fighting on his own if Israel returns to war with Iran.

The warning on Monday came as Israel and Iran said they would pause attacks following their most serious escalation since a ceasefire took effect in ril.

Trump, who has reportedly grown increasingly exasperated with Netanyahu, demanded that both sides stop shooting in a post on his Truth Social platform and said that final negotiations towards peace would proceed subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way.

He also called Netanyahu and told him to stop the strikes, according to media reports.

In an interview with Axios, Trump said he had warned Netanyahu about the consequences of continuing the war.

I said, ‘Bibi, you better be careful, or you will be on your own very soon’, Trump said.

The flare-up began on Sunday, triggered by Israel’s deadly bombardment of Lebanon’s cital, Beirut. Iran – which has long said any peace deal with the US depends in part on an end to the fighting in Lebanon –responded with a wave of missiles at northern Israel.

Trump reportedly called Netanyahu on Sunday evening and asked him not to retaliate, but Israel launched attacks on Iran early on Monday.

Israeli forces struck Iranian air defence systems and a petrochemical plant, while Iran retaliated by hitting a similar facility in Haifa and targeting two Israeli airbases. Many of the missiles were intercepted over the occupied West Bank.

No deaths were reported on either side.

Israel plays down tensions

The exchanges complicated Trump’s push to end a war that the US and Israel launched on February 28. A ceasefire announced on ril 8 paused all-out warfare. But flare-ups in the Gulf have continued.

For his part, Netanyahu said in a televised statement that he had told Trump that Israel has a full right to self-defence, and we are exercising it as required.

Right now, the fire at the front is contained, because after we hit the terrorist regime in Tehran, it stopped attacking us, he said.

Netanyahu also warned that should Iran make the mistake of resuming attacks against us, we will respond with full force.

Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, downplayed reports of tension between the US and Israeli leaders, telling Fox News that sometimes, lovers have a spat.

He said that while Netanyahu had decided to lower the temperature at Trump’s request, the US president understands full well that Israel cannot absorb ballistic missiles into our country without responding.

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, blamed Washington for the escalation.

The US is directly responsible, he said. They are party to the ceasefire negotiations. Therefore, any act in violation of the ceasefire, be it through the interception of vessels [in the Strait of Hormuz], the targeting of southern Lebanon by Israel, or any other event, will cause the United States to be directly responsible for the escalation in the region.

Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said the operation against Israel, dubbed Nasr or victory, showcased a new level of deterrence from mighty Iran and that Israel had been forced to beg once again for a ceasefire.

Behind the scenes, diplomatic efforts continue.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on X that Tehran was still at the negotiating table, while Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, said that Washington and Tehran, through Pakistan as an intermediary, are presenting and exchanging views towards an agreement.

Iravani told The Associated Press news agency he was hopeful that very soon the two sides would reach a conclusion.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said efforts for a peaceful diplomatic solution was ongoing earnestly and painstakingly and called for restraint, especially when the final objective is just about to be achieved.

He also said Israel and Iran’s exchange of fire was a reminder of the dangers associated with a tenuous ceasefire and the unbearable consequences it may lead to.

Attacks on Lebanon continue

The escalation on Monday also drew in Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

The group fired missiles at Israel early in the morning and declared a complete ban on Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea, warning that all Israeli movements would be considered legitimate military targets.

Later on Monday, air raid sirens sounded in the Israeli port city of Eilat, with the military saying a suspected aerial target was launched from Yemen.

Violence has also continued in southern Lebanon.

An Israeli strike killed five people in the city of Tyre, while another, in the Nabatieh district, left seven dead. A third strike in Marwanieh killed two people, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.

Phyllis Bennis, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, said Trump was trying to give an impression that he was tougher on Israel than he actually is.

The words could be significant if they were matched by actions, she told Al Jazeera.

As long as they’re sending billions of dollars directly to the Israeli military, and as long as they’re protecting Israel from being held accountable in the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court, as long as those actions don’t change, the words just don’t mean very much, she added.

The fire was reported by the crew of MT Marivex, which was not carrying any cargo, at 1.30 pm, Opesh Kumar Sharma, director in the shipping ministry, told a media briefing. The vessel was well out of the Strait of Hormuz, and well clear to the south, he said, adding that all the crew members were safe.

Several hours later, the crew members were evacuated by a helicopter of the Oman Air Force. The Indian embassy in Muscat thanked Omani authorities for rescuing all 24 Indian crew members in a social media post.

An audio recording of a SOS message sent by the crew of Marivex featured a crew member saying that the vessel was on fire after a US Navy attack by missile on our engine room.

People familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity Marivex had been black-listed and sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the US treasury department. OFAC is the body that acts against vessels involved in violating US sanctions on the sale of Iranian and Russian oil.

The vessel is not Indian-owned. Over the last few days, Marivex made four attempts to evade the US blockade of Iranian ports, one of the people said. On three occasions, the vessel turned away after repeated warnings by the US Navy.

The people said Marivex made a fourth attempt to get past the US blockade by using Oman’s territorial waters on Monday. The vessel switched off its signal devices so that it could go undetected. ⁠This pattern made it clear the vessel’s intentions were not above board, they said.

The shipping ministry coordinated with the external affairs ministry, the Indian mission in Oman, the defence ministry and Indian Navy to ensure the safety of the crew members.

The Forward Seamen’s Union of India, one of the country’s oldest organisations representing seafarers, said in a social media post that the attack on a vessel carrying 24 Indian seafarers…is a matter of serious concern. It added, FSUI urges swift and coordinated action to ensure the safety of the crew, provide support to their families, and uphold the security of seafarers at sea.

Oman is located adjacent to the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blocked by Iran since the start of a conflict with Israel and the US in February. The attack on Marivex came against the backdrop of a fresh flare-up in hostilities between Israel and Iran since Sunday.

Ten Indians have died in West Asia since the start of the conflict, including three seafarers who were killed in attacks on merchant vessels in the early days of the hostilities.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said Iran-US nuclear talks were in a ‘complicated phase’ and dialogue with Iran ‘broken’ as Iran and Israel traded fire on Monday, the worst escalation since a ceasefire was reached in ril.