Israel vowed a forceful response Tuesday after saying Iran violated a mutually agreed-upon ceasefire brokered by Washington just hours after it went into effect.

The Israel Defense Forces said two missiles were shot at the country’s north at around 10:30 a.m., some three and a half hours after the ceasefire began. This followed a deadly missile attack on Beersheba shortly before the truce began that killed four people.

The military said it shot down the two missiles fired in the last barrage. Fragments from the interceptions were later found in the Galil region.

Iran initially denied firing the missiles at 10:30 a.m. Later, it claimed Israel had itself continued to strike in its territory until 9 a.m. — though Israel appeared to have halted its sorties in the early morning, and Iran had not reported any Israeli violations of the truce prior to firing the missiles.

The renewed hostilities left the future of the ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump unclear. Earlier, both sides had stated that they had agreed to halt their attacks so long as the other side did the same.

The agreement aimed to end 12 days of fighting between the two countries.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that he had instructed the IDF to “respond forcefully in the heart of Tehran” to the violation of the ceasefire.

Katz ordered the military to “continue high-intensity operations targeting regime assets and terror infrastructure in Tehran” in light of “Iran’s blatant violation of the ceasefire declared by the president of the United States.”

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said that “in light of the grave violation of the ceasefire by the Iranian regime, we will strike with force.”

“Iran broke the ceasefire,” an Israeli official said on condition of anonymity, “and it will pay.”

Separately, an Israeli official told Channel 12 that Washington backs Israel’s expected response to the violation.

In its earlier statement confirming its acceptance of the US- and Qatari-brokered ceasefire, the Prime Minister’s Office had promised to “respond forcefully” to any violations of the truce.

Lawmakers also called for retaliation against Tehran over the violation.

“Tehran will tremble,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet, posted to X.

“Quiet will be answered with quiet, missiles will be answered with…?” tweeted Otzma Yehudit lawmaker Limor Son Har-Melech.

Avigdor Liberman, head of the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party, posted: “Three and a half hours after the US president announced a ceasefire, there is shooting from Iran toward northern Israel. We must not accept it, we must not ignore it, we have to respond immediately.”

“Any violation will be met with an appropriate response,” declared Likud lawmaker Tali Gotliv, while her fellow Likud MK Avichai Boaron called for strikes “with full force” against symbols of the Iranian regime.

Hebrew media reported that following the public calls for retaliation against Iran by government ministers, members of Netanyahu’s cabinet received instructions not to give interviews or post on social media until being told otherwise.

The pair of missiles came after Iran fired a series of missile barrages in successive waves at Israel during the morning as the ceasefire was about to start.

One of the 20 missiles in the attacks hit an apartment building in Beersheba, killing four people and injuring dozens.

Despite the deadly attack, Israel signaled it would adhere to the truce and not retaliate — prior to the violation hours later.

Israel and Iran entered into open conflict on June 13 when Israel launched airstrikes targeting Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites and the country’s ballistic missile program.

Israel said the campaign was necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its declared plan to destroy the Jewish state.

Iran, which avowedly seeks Israel’s destruction, has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. However, it has enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, has obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities. Israel says Iran has recently taken steps toward weaponization.

Iran retaliated to Israel’s attacks by launching over 550 ballistic missiles and around 1,000 drones at Israel. Iran’s missile attacks killed 28 people and wounded thousands in Israel, according to health officials and hospitals. Missiles have hit apartment buildings, a university, and a hospital, causing heavy damage.

Lazar Berman contributed to this report.