Middle East War Reaches 100 Days; Israel and Iran Exchange Strikes Threaten Ceasefire

The Middle East war reached its 100th day today. The conflict, triggered by a joint US-Israeli airstrike on Iran at the end of February, saw a ceasefire on April 8th, but a final peace agreement has yet to be reached. Moreover, the exchange of airstrikes between Israel and Iran over the past two days poses the most serious threat yet to the already fragile ceasefire.

According to AFP, the escalation began yesterday when Iran fired 11 missiles at Israel. Although all missiles were intercepted and caused no casualties, Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes on Iran today, with explosions reported in three cities including Tehran. This marks the first time Iran has directly fired missiles at Israel since the bilateral ceasefire took effect in April.

Israel maintains that the April ceasefire does not include Hezbollah and continues its military operations against the Iran-backed group in Lebanon. Consequently, Iran has repeatedly emphasized that any permanent end to the war must also terminate Israeli military actions against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In fact, Iran's Foreign Ministry stated that it had shown restraint for weeks before responding with a missile attack yesterday to Israel's military actions in Lebanon. Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards described the attack as a "warning," stating that if Israel launches a similar attack again, Iran's response will expand further to include more targets in the region.

On the Israeli side, Prime Minister Netanyahu's office announced that after Hezbollah attacked two military camps in northern Israel with missiles and drones yesterday, the Israeli military, as previously warned, struck a command center of an armed group in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

According to Lebanese health authorities, the Israeli raid resulted in 2 deaths and 20 injuries.

The escalation in the Middle East has not only caused oil prices to surge again but has also dimmed the prospects for the immediate resumption of normal navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. This vital global energy transport route has been severely disrupted since the war began.