Following Israeli hints early Monday that they all but exhausted their target bank in Iran, President Trump is announcing a cease-fire in what he now calls “the 12-day war” between Israel and Iran. The name might have alluded to Israel’s spectacular 1967 victory over Arab countries, known as the Six-Day War. 

Earlier Monday, an unidentified Jerusalem official told reporters that the Israel Defense Force has only few targets left to hit in Iran, and that the war will wind down “within days.” On Monday, Iran launched a handful of missiles at America’s largest Mideast air base at Qatar’s Al Udeid. They were intercepted by American air defenses. Qatar was reportedly involved in mediating the ceasefire.  

“Congratulation to everyone,” Mr. Trump said in a posting on Truth Social Monday evening. “It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a complete and total ceasefire in approximately six hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress final missions for 12 hours, at which point the war will be considered ended officially.”

An Iranian official confirmed that the Islamic Republic agreed to the ceasefire terms, Reuters reports. Israelis did not immediately comment on the announcement, which was posted after 1:00 a.m. in the Mideast. It is unclear whether either side would use the six hours that precede the announced hostility cessation to launch attacks on the other. 

On Monday morning, Iran fired several salvos of ballistic missiles at a wide array of targets in Israel. A power plant was nearly hit, and electricity to southern Israel was interrupted. It was restored fairly quickly. In Iran, internal security headquarters at Tehran were hit by the IDF, including the entrance gate to the notorious Evin prison, where political prisoners are incarcerated and tortured. 

Iran’s attack on Al Udeid was ineffective, and Mideast analysts said it might have been coordinated with Qatar to allow the Islamic Republic to save face after America hit its nuclear sites Saturday night. Mr. Trump, in what could have been a prelude to the cease-fire announcement, wrote that the Iranians “got it out of their system.” Hours later, he announced an end to the war.     

“I would like to congratulate both countries, Israel and Iran, on having the stamina, courage, and intelligence to end what should be called the 12 day war,” Mr. Trump wrote. “This is a war that could have gone on for years and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t and never will. God bless Israel, God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States of America, and God bless the world.”

The war was launched by Israel on June 13 to end Iran’s nuclear abilities and its arsenal of ballistic missiles. While assessments are ongoing in the aftermath of Saturday’s American attack on three nuclear sites, Israeli sources say Iran’s nuclear program is now set back for years, or even completely obliterated. Iran lost at least half of its missiles and launchers, and many of its military leaders and nuclear scientists were killed.