Israel-Iran ceasefire holds, offering hope, but also uncertainty as Iran threatens to accelerate nuclear work

Tel Aviv — There was cautious optimism in Israel on Wednesday that the ceasefire with Iran would hold, at least for now. The 12-day conflict left 28 people dead in Israel and hundreds in Iran. The ceasefire brokered by the Trump administration — and enforced by President Trump personally on Tuesday as it looked perilously close to failing before it even took hold — led Israel's Home Front Command to lift restrictions on movement in the country, with Ben Gurion International Airport reopening for commercial flights.

Shops and restaurants were open, and Israelis were out on the beach in Tel Aviv, which had been largely empty for days as Israel pounded Iranian nuclear, military, and other targets and Iran responded with volleys of missiles launched at Israel.

Both Israel and Iran were quick to claim victory. An Israeli military spokesman said Wednesday that the strikes on Iran had set the country's nuclear program back by "many years," while President Trump told reporters at a NATO summit in the Netherlands that Iran's enrichment work was put back "basically decades."