Israel threatens Iran’s top leader after missiles damage hospital and wound more than 200
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Israel threatens Iran’s top leader after missiles damage hospital and wound 200
Israel’s defence minister overtly threatened Iran’s supreme leader on Thursday after the latest missile barrage from Iran damaged the main hospital in southern Israel and hit several other residential buildings near Tel Aviv. Israeli military official said that Iran used a missile with multiple warheads in an attack on Thursday, posing a new challenge to its defences. Israeli prime minister vowed a response, saying: “We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran” Israeli defence minister said the military “has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist” US officials said this week that US president Donald Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Mr Khamenei, but Mr Trump later said there were no plans to kill him “at least not for now’ Israeli military said on Thursday that Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel, although most have been shot down by Israel�s multi-tiered air and sea defense system.
Israel’s defence minister overtly threatened Iran’s supreme leader on Thursday after the latest missile barrage from Iran damaged the main hospital in southern Israel and hit several other residential buildings near Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, Israel struck a heavy water reactor that is part of Iran’s nuclear programme.
At least 240 people were wounded by the Iranian missiles, four of them seriously, according to Israel’s health ministry.
The vast majority were lightly wounded, including more than 70 people from the Soroka Medical Centre in the southern city of Beersheba, where smoke rose as emergency teams evacuated patients.
In the aftermath of the strikes, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz blamed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said the military “has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist”.
US officials said this week that US president Donald Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Mr Khamenei. Mr Trump later said there were no plans to kill him “at least not for now”.
Israel carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, in its latest attack on the country’s sprawling nuclear programme, on the seventh day of a conflict that began with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting military sites, senior officers and nuclear scientists.
A Washington-based Iranian human rights group said at least 639 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 1,300 wounded.
In retaliation, Iran has fired some 400 missiles and hundreds of drones, killing at least 24 people in Israel and wounding hundreds.
The Israeli air defence system fires to intercept missiles during an Iranian attack over Tel Aviv (Leo Correa/AP) (Leo Correa/AP)
Meanwhile, an Israeli military official said that Iran used a missile with multiple warheads in an attack on Thursday, posing a new challenge to its defences.
There was no immediate independent analysis that could be made of the claim, but Iran has hinted in the past that it was pursuing such weaponry.
Instead of having to track one warhead, missiles with multiple warheads can pose a more difficult challenge for air defence systems, such as Israel’s Iron Dome.
Two doctors told The Associated Press that the missile struck almost immediately after air raid sirens went off, causing a loud explosion that could be heard from a safe room.
The hospital said the main impact was on an old surgery building that had been evacuated in recent days. After the strike, the medical facility was closed to all patients except for life-threatening cases, it said.
Soroka has more than 1,000 beds and provides services to around one million residents in the south of Israel.
A firefighter walks past a damaged area at the Soroka hospital complex after it was hit by a missile fired from Iran (Leo Correa/AP) (Leo Correa/AP)
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the strike on the hospital and vowed a response, saying: “We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran.”
Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel, although most have been shot down by Israel’s multi-tiered air defences.
An Israeli military official said on Thursday that airstrikes have destroyed around two-thirds of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers.
The official said Israel estimates Iran still has more than 100 operational launchers, but that its losses have contributed to the steady decline in attacks since the start of the conflict.
Israel estimates that Iran had around 2,000 ballistic missiles at the start of the conflict, and says it has fired around 450 missiles and 1,000 drones towards Israel since hostilities began.
Israel lifted some restrictions on daily life on Wednesday, suggesting the missile threat from Iran was easing.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the strike on the hospital (Ronen Zvulun/Pool Photo via AP) (Ronen Zvulun/AP)
Haim Bublil, a local police commander, told reporters that several people were lightly wounded in the strike.
Many hospitals in Israel activated emergency plans in the past week, converting underground parking to hospital floors and moving patients underground, especially those who are on ventilators or are difficult to move quickly.
Israel also boasts a fortified, subterranean blood bank that kicked into action after Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack ignited the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s military said its fighter jets targeted the Arak facility and its reactor core seal to halt it from being used to produce plutonium.
“The strike targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development,” the military said.
Israel separately claimed to have struck another site around Natanz it described as being related to Iran’s nuclear programme.
Patients rest outdoors after the attack on the Soroka hospital complex (Leo Correa/AP) (Leo Correa/AP)
Iranian state TV said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” from the attack on the Arak site.
An Iranian state television reporter, speaking live in the nearby town of Khondab, said the facility had been evacuated and there was no damage to civilian areas around the reactor.
Israel had warned earlier on Thursday morning that it would attack the facility and urged the public to flee the area.
Iran has long maintained its programme is for peaceful purposes. But it also enriches uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iran is the only non-nuclear-weapon state to enrich at that level.
Israel is the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East but does not acknowledge having such weapons.
The strikes came a day after Iran’s supreme leader rejected US calls for surrender and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage to them”.
Israeli security forces inspect a destroyed building in Holon, near Tel Aviv, that was hit by a missile (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP) (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)
Already, Israel’s campaign has targeted Iran’s enrichment site at Natanz, centrifuge workshops around Tehran and a nuclear site in Isfahan. Its strikes have also killed top generals and nuclear scientists.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said he would travel to Geneva for meetings with his European counterparts on Friday, indicating that a new diplomatic initiative might be taking shape.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency said the meeting would include foreign ministers from the UK, France and Germany and the European Union’s top diplomat.
Mr Trump has said he wants something “much bigger” than a ceasefire and has not ruled out the US joining Israel’s campaign. Iran has warned of dire consequences if the US deepens its involvement, without elaborating.
Latest: Israel threatens Iran’s supreme leader as Iranian strikes wound over 200
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Other missiles hit a high-rise apartment building in Tel Aviv and other sites in central Israel. At least 240 people were wounded by the Iranian missiles, four of them seriously, according to Israel’s Health Ministry.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz blamed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said the military “has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist.”
Israel, meanwhile, carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, its latest attack on Iran’s sprawling nuclear programme. Iranian state television said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” and that the facility had been evacuated before the attack.
Here’s the latest:
Israeli military says Iran used a missile with multiple warheads in its attack
The Israeli military said Thursday that Iran used a missile with multiple warheads in its attack, posing a new challenge to its defences.
Instead of having to track one warhead, missiles with multiple warheads can pose a more difficult challenge for air defence systems, like Israel’s Iron Dome.
There was no immediate independent analysis that could be made.
Russia voices concern about security at Iran’s Russia-built nuclear power plant
Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Russia is particularly concerned about security at the plant in Iran’s southern port of Bushehr and the Russian personnel there.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that over 200 Russian workers are involved in building two more nuclear reactors in Bushehr. “We agreed with the Israeli leadership that their security will be ensured,” he said.
Alexei Likhachev, the head of the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, told reporters that several dozen Russian workers had already been evacuated from Bushehr and others could follow suit quickly if necessary.
Likhachev warned that an Israeli strike on the Bushehr reactor could trigger a catastrophe comparable to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. He voiced hope that the Israeli leadership will “have sufficient understanding and common sense not to allow even an accidental hit.”
Israeli official: Iran has launched 450 missiles and 1,000 drones toward Israel so far
The vast majority of the drones have been launched from Iran, but a few have been launched from Iran’s proxies, including Iraq, according to the Israeli military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.
He added that Israel began its operation in western Iran before moving towards the capital of Tehran and the centre. The military is now starting to attack eastern Iran.
The official would not comment on whether or not the Americans are planning to target the Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant. “What Americans do or will not do is up to them, we have our plan and are operating according to it,” he said.
Gaza officials say 69 dead in past 24 hours
The Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday that hospitals had received 69 bodies and 221 wounded people in the last 24 hours.
It said 55,706 Palestinians have been killed and another 130,101 wounded since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, without saying how many were civilians or combatants.
The war began with Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack into Israel, when Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. They still hold 53 hostages, more than half of them believed to be dead.
Israel says it destroyed majority of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers
Israel said its airstrikes have destroyed around two-thirds of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers, according to an Israeli military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military regulations. The official said on Thursday that Israel estimates Iran still has over 100 missile launchers remaining active.
“We are hitting all the chain of production, from the military factory all the way to the launcher itself, we’re stopping all of the elements,” the official said. Israel estimates that before Friday, Iran had around 2,000 ballistic missiles.
The official would not comment on Israeli impact on Iran’s nuclear programme. “We said we’re going to damage severely the nuclear facilities, but we didn’t say we’re going to destroy it totally,” the official said. “We know our limits.”
At least 8 killed near aid distribution site in Gaza
Health officials in the Gaza Strip say at least eight Palestinians were killed and 60 wounded near an aid distribution site run by a US- and Israeli-backed humanitarian group.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza, which received the dead and wounded, confirmed the toll.
It appeared to be the latest of near-daily shootings of Palestinians seeking desperately-needed food in the territory, which experts say is at risk of famine because of Israel’s blockade and ongoing military campaign.
Multiple Palestinian witnesses have said Israeli forces routinely fire on the crowds. Local health officials say scores have been killed and hundreds wounded. The military says it has fired warning shots at people it describes as suspects who approached its forces.
Russia warns the US against entering the Israel-Iran conflict
“US military interference would be “an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a briefing Thursday. .
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he doesn’t want to carry out a US strike on Iran but suggested he stands ready to act if it’s necessary to extinguish Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran’s supreme leader appoints new commander
Iran’s supreme leader has appointed Brigadier General Mohammad Karami as the new ground forces commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary force that controls Iran’s ballistic missiles, after Israeli strikes last week killed several high-ranking military officials in Tehran.
Karami is replacing Mohammad Pakpour, who was appointed last week to become the new commander of the Guard following the killing of Hossein Salami.
Iraqi militia threatens to attack US citizens if Iranian leader is targeted
Harakat al-Nujaba, one of the main Iran-backed militias in Iraq, threatened to attack US citizens in the event that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is targeted in the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict.
“No soldier, diplomat, or even a bearer of your nationality in our region will be safe. All your direct and indirect interests will become legitimate targets for us, as long as we draw breath in this vile world,” the statement said.
Iraqi militias have thus far largely held their fire in the conflict, although three drones launched at the Ain al-Asad base housing US troops in western Iraq were reportedly shot down on Friday, after Israel’s began its barrage of strikes on Iran. No group claimed responsibility for the attack on the base.
French foreign minister: France and Europeans willing to negotiate with Iran
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Thursday that France and Europeans partners are ready to “resume negotiations” with Iran.
The comments come after Iran’s state media said the country’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will meet with European counterparts in Geneva on Friday.
Barrot did not confirm the Geneva meeting.
The message from Iranian authorities was “relatively clear: there is a willingness to resume talks, including with the United States, provided that a ceasefire can be reached,” Barrot told a news conference in Paris.
“On our side, there is a willingness to resume negotiations, provided that these negotiations can lead to lasting, substantial steps backward by Iran regarding its nuclear program, its ballistic program and its activities to destabilize the region,” Barrot said.
Patients wheeled out of Israeli hospital hit by missile
Patients were wheeled out of a major Israeli hospital that was hit by the latest Iranian missile barrage as emergency responders assessed the damage to the building.
A missile struck the Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba, damaging its surgical ward. The roof of the building was smashed in, and after the building was hit, smoke could still be seen smoldering from the side. Chunks of cement and glass lay scattered on the ground.
Hospital staff said several dozen people were lightly injured, adding that most patients had already been moved to safe spaces.
Emergency responders assessed the damage at the Soroka hospital Thursday after a missile struck the surgical ward.
Staff said it wasn’t clear how secure the building was, or if parts were going to collapse.
Two hospital staff who did not want to named told The AP the strike hit almost immediately after sirens went off and they went into the safe room.
Dust and debris at Iran’s state-run broadcaster after Israeli strike
The broadcaster allowed reporters on Thursday to film the aftermath of an Israeli strike against its building in Tehran this week.
Associated Press journalists saw the dust and debris now filling an Iranian state television studio. Its windows were blown out by the blast. Chairs sat singed.
Israel conducted the strike against the building Monday during a live broadcast there, an hour after it issued a public warning for the wider area of Tehran in which the building is located.
Iranian officials have said three employees of the broadcaster, formally known as the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, were killed in the attack.
US diplomat warns Hezbollah against supporting Iran
US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said it would be a “very bad mistake” for Lebanon if the Hezbollah militant group intervened to support Iran militarily in its conflict against Israel.
Barrack made the remarks to journalists Thursday after visiting top officials in Lebanon. Iran-backed Hezbollah has condemned Israel’s surprise strikes on Iran that sparked the conflict and endorsed Iran’s missile barrages over Israel, but has stopped short of saying it will take military action.
India decides to evacuate its nationals from Israel
Israel threatens Iran’s top leader after missiles damage hospital, wound more than 200. Israel meanwhile struck a heavy water reactor that is part of Iran’s nuclear programme. At least 240 people were wounded by the Iranian missiles, four of them seriously, according to Israel’s Health Ministry. The vast majority were lightly wounded, including more than 70 people from the Soroka Medical Centre in the southern city of Beersheba. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz blamed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said the military “has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist” US officials said this week that President Donald Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei. The conflict began last Friday with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting military sites, senior officers and nuclear scientists. In retaliation, Iran has fired over 400 missiles and hundreds of drones, killing at least 24 people in Israel and wounding hundreds. Israel separately claimed to have struck another site around Natanz it described as being related to Iran’s nuclear program.
Beersheba | Israel’s defence minister threatened Iran’s supreme leader on Thursday after the latest missile barrage from Iran damaged the main hospital in southern Israel and hit several other residential buildings near Tel Aviv. Israel meanwhile struck a heavy water reactor that is part of Iran’s nuclear programme.
At least 240 people were wounded by the Iranian missiles, four of them seriously, according to Israel’s Health Ministry. The vast majority were lightly wounded, including more than 70 people from the Soroka Medical Centre in the southern city of Beersheba, where smoke rose as emergency teams evacuated patients.
In the aftermath of the strikes, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz blamed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said the military “has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist.”
US officials said this week that President Donald Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei. Trump later said there were no plans to kill him “at least not for now.”
Israel carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, in its latest attack on the country’s sprawling nuclear programme. The conflict began last Friday with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting military sites, senior officers and nuclear scientists.
A Washington-based Iranian human rights group said at least 639 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 1,300 wounded. In retaliation, Iran has fired over 400 missiles and hundreds of drones, killing at least 24 people in Israel and wounding hundreds.
Meanwhile, an Israeli military official said that Iran used a missile with multiple warheads in an attack Thursday, posing a new challenge to its defences.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.
There was no immediate independent analysis that could be made. However, Iran has hinted in the past that it was pursuing such weaponry.
Instead of having to track one warhead, missiles with multiple warheads can pose a more difficult challenge for air defence systems, like Israel’s Iron Dome.
Missile hits main hospital in southern Israel
Two doctors told The Associated Press that the missile struck almost immediately after air raid sirens went off, causing a loud explosion that could be heard from a safe room. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief media.
The hospital said the main impact was on an old surgery building that had been evacuated in recent days. After the strike, the medical facility was closed to all patients except for life-threatening cases, it said. Soroka has over 1,000 beds and provides services to around 1 million residents of Israel’s south.
There were no serious injuries from the strike on the hospital.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack and vowed a response, saying: “We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran.”
Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel, though most have been shot down by Israel’s multi-tiered air defences, which detect incoming fire and shoot down missiles heading toward population centres and critical infrastructure. Israeli officials acknowledge it is imperfect.
Many hospitals in Israel activated emergency plans in the past week, converting underground parking to hospital floors and moving patients underground, especially those who are on ventilators or are difficult to move quickly.
Israel also boasts a fortified, subterranean blood bank that kicked into action after Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack ignited the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
No radiation ‘danger’ after strike on reactor
Israel’s military said its fighter jets targeted the Arak facility and its reactor core seal in order to prevent it from being used to produce plutonium.
“The strike targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development,” the military said. Israel separately claimed to have struck another site around Natanz it described as being related to Iran’s nuclear program.
Iranian state TV said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” from the attack on the Arak site. An Iranian state television reporter, speaking live in the nearby town of Khondab, said the facility had been evacuated and there was no damage to civilian areas around the reactor.
Israel had warned earlier Thursday morning it would attack the facility and urged the public to flee the area.
Iran rejects calls to surrender or end its nuclear programme
Iran has long maintained its programme is for peaceful purposes. However, it also enriches uranium up to 60 per cent, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent. Iran is the only non-nuclear-weapon state to enrich at that level.
Israel is the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East but does not acknowledge having such weapons.
The strikes came a day after Iran’s supreme leader rejected US calls for surrender and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage to them.” Israel had lifted some restrictions on daily life Wednesday, suggesting the missile threat from Iran on its territory was easing.
Already, Israel’s campaign has targeted Iran’s enrichment site at Natanz, centrifuge workshops around Tehran and a nuclear site in Isfahan. Its strikes have also killed top generals and nuclear scientists.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he would travel to Geneva for meetings with his European counterparts on Friday, indicating a new diplomatic initiative might be taking shape. Iran’s official IRNA news agency said the meeting would include foreign ministers from the United Kingdom, France and Germany and the European Union’s top diplomat.
Trump has said he wants something “much bigger” than a ceasefire and has not ruled out the US joining in Israel’s campaign. Iran has warned of dire consequences if the US deepens its involvement, without elaborating.
Arak had been redesigned to address nuclear concerns
The Arak heavy water reactor is 250 kilometres southwest of Tehran.
Heavy water helps cool nuclear reactors, but it produces plutonium as a byproduct that can potentially be used in nuclear weapons. That would provide Iran another path to the bomb beyond enriched uranium, should it choose to pursue the weapon.
Iran had agreed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to redesign the facility over proliferation concerns.
The reactor became a point of contention after President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018. Ali Akbar Salehi, a high-ranking nuclear official in Iran, said in 2019 that Tehran bought extra parts to replace a portion of the reactor that it had poured concrete into to render it unusable under the deal.
Israel, in conducting its strike, signalled it remained concerned the facility could be used to produce plutonium again one day.
“The strike targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, has been urging Israel not to strike Iranian nuclear sites. IAEA inspectors reportedly last visited Arak on May 14.
Due to restrictions Iran imposed on inspectors, the IAEA has said it lost “continuity of knowledge” about Iran’s heavy water production — meaning it could not absolutely verify Tehran’s production and stockpile.
Iranian missile hits main hospital in southern Israel as strikes wound dozens
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BEERSHEBA, Israel (AP) — An Iranian missile slammed into the main hospital in southern Israel early Thursday, causing “extensive damage” but no serious injuries, according to the medical facility. Israeli media aired footage of blown-out windows and heavy black smoke.
Other missiles hit a high-rise building and several other residential buildings in at least two sites near Tel Aviv. At least 40 people were wounded in the attacks, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service.
Israel, meanwhile, carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, in its latest attack on the country’s sprawling nuclear program, on the seventh day of a conflict that began with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting military sites, senior officers and nuclear scientists.
Missile hits main hospital in southern Israel
Black smoke rose from the Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba as emergency teams evacuated patients.
Two doctors told The Associated Press that the missile struck almost immediately after air raid sirens went off, causing a loud explosion that could be heard from a safe room. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The hospital said the main impact was on an old surgery building that had been evacuated in recent days. After the strike, the medical facility was closed to all patients except for life-threatening cases, it said. Soroka has over 1,000 beds and provides services to around 1 million residents of Israel’s south.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the strike on the hospital and vowed a response, saying: “We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran.”
Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel, though most have been shot down by Israel’s multi-tiered air defenses, which detect incoming fire and shoot down missiles heading toward population centers and critical infrastructure. Israeli officials acknowledge it is imperfect.
Haim Bublil, a local police commander, told reporters that several people were lightly wounded in the strike. He said there was a fire in a six-story building that was hard to access, and that rescuers were still searching various buildings and moving patients to safer areas of the hospital.
Many hospitals in Israel activated emergency plans in the past week, converting underground parking to hospital floors and move patients underground, especially those who are on ventilators or are difficult to move quickly.
‘No radiation danger’ after strike on reactor
Israel’s military said its fighter jets targeted the Arak facility and its reactor core seal to halt it from being used to produce plutonium.
“The strike targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development,” the military said. Israel separately claimed to have struck another site around Natanz it described as being related to Iran’s nuclear program.
Iranian state TV said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” from the attack on the Arak site. An Iranian state television reporter, speaking live in the nearby town of Khondab, said the facility had been evacuated and there was no damage to civilian areas around the reactor.
Israel had warned earlier Thursday morning it would attack the facility and urged the public to flee the area.
Iran rejects calls to surrender or end its nuclear program
Iran has long maintained its program is for peaceful purposes. However, it also enriches uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iran is the only non-nuclear-weapon state to enrich at that level.
Israel is the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East but does not acknowledge having such weapons.
The strikes came a day after Iran’s supreme leader rejected U.S. calls for surrender and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage to them.” Israel had lifted some restrictions on daily life Wednesday, suggesting the missile threat from Iran on its territory was easing.
Already, Israel’s campaign has targeted Iran’s enrichment site at Natanz, centrifuge workshops around Tehran and a nuclear site in Isfahan. Its strikes have also killed top generals and nuclear scientists.
A Washington-based Iranian human rights group said at least 639 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 1,300 wounded. In retaliation, Iran has fired some 400 missiles and hundreds of drones, killing at least 24 people in Israel and wounding hundreds.
Arak had been redesigned to address nuclear concerns
The Arak heavy water reactor is 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of Tehran.
Heavy water helps cool nuclear reactors, but it produces plutonium as a byproduct that can potentially be used in nuclear weapons. That would provide Iran another path to the bomb beyond enriched uranium, should it choose to pursue the weapon.
Iran had agreed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to redesign the facility over proliferation concerns.
The reactor became a point of contention after President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018. Ali Akbar Salehi, a high-ranking nuclear official in Iran, said in 2019 that Tehran bought extra parts to replace a portion of the reactor that it had poured concrete into to render it unusable under the deal.
Israel, in conducting its strike, signaled it remained concerned the facility could be used to produce plutonium again one day.
“The strike targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, has been urging Israel not to strike Iranian nuclear sites. IAEA inspectors reportedly last visited Arak on May 14.
Due to restrictions Iran imposed on inspectors, the IAEA has said it lost “continuity of knowledge” about Iran’s heavy water production — meaning it could not absolutely verify Tehran’s production and stockpile.
___
The headline of this story has been corrected to show that 40 people were wounded in several strikes, not the one on the hospital.
___
Melzer reported from Tel Aviv, Israel, and Gambrell from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv contributed.
Sam Mednick, Natalie Melzer, And Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press
Iranian missiles hit a hospital and wound over 200. Israel threatens Iran’s top leader
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz blamed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. At least 240 people were wounded by the latest Iranian attack, four of them seriously. Israel carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, in its latest attack on the country’s nuclear program. A Washington-based Iranian human rights group said at least 639 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 1,300 wounded. The conflict began last Friday with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting military sites, senior officers and nuclear scientists.. Israel says it has taken out most of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers, but that its losses have contributed to the steady decline in attacks since the start of the conflict. Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel, though most have been shot down by Israel’s multitiered air defenses. The Israeli military estimates that Iran had around 2,000 ballistic missiles at the startof the conflict, and say it has fired around 450 missiles and 1,000 drones toward Israel since hostilities began.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz blamed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said the military “has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist.”
U.S. officials said earlier this week that President Donald Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei. Trump later said there were no plans to kill him, “at least not for now.”
Israel carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, in its latest attack on the country’s nuclear program. The conflict began last Friday with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting military sites, senior officers and nuclear scientists.
A Washington-based Iranian human rights group said at least 639 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 1,300 wounded. In retaliation, Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones, killing at least 24 people in Israel and wounding hundreds.
More than 200 wounded, including dozens in the hospital strike
At least 240 people were wounded by the latest Iranian attack, four of them seriously, according to Israel’s Health Ministry.
Iran used a missile with multiple warheads, according to an Israeli military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.
Such missiles can pose a more difficult challenge for air defense systems, like Israel’s Iron Dome, because they have to track more than one warhead.
An immediate independent analysis was not possible. However, Iran has hinted in the past that it was pursuing such weaponry.
The vast majority of those injured Thursday were lightly wounded, including more than 70 people from the Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba, where smoke rose as emergency teams evacuated patients. There were no serious injuries from the strike on the hospital.
The hospital said the main impact was on an old surgery building that had been evacuated in recent days. After the strike, the medical facility was closed to all patients except for life-threatening cases, it said. Soroka has over 1,000 beds and provides services to around 1 million residents of Israel’s south.
Many hospitals in Israel activated emergency plans in the past week, converting underground parking to wards and moving patients to them, especially those who are on ventilators or are difficult to move quickly. Israel also boasts a fortified, subterranean blood bank that kicked into action after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack ignited the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
Two doctors told The Associated Press that the missile struck almost immediately after air raid sirens went off, causing a loud explosion that could be heard from a safe room. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack and vowed a response, saying: “We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran.”
Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel, though most have been shot down by Israel’s multitiered air defenses.
Israel says it has taken out most of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers
An Israeli military official said Thursday that airstrikes have destroyed around two-thirds of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said Israel estimates Iran still has over 100 operational launchers, but that its losses have contributed to the steady decline in attacks since the start of the conflict.
Israel estimates that Iran had around 2,000 ballistic missiles at the start of the conflict, and says it has fired around 450 missiles and 1,000 drones toward Israel since hostilities began.
Israel lifted some restrictions on daily life Wednesday, suggesting the missile threat from Iran was easing.
Iran rejects calls to surrender or end its nuclear program
Iran has long maintained its program is for peaceful purposes. However, it also enriches uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iran is the only non-nuclear-weapon state to enrich at that level.
Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons — making it the only such state in the Middle East — but does not acknowledge having such arms.
Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday rejected U.S. calls for surrender and warned that any American military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage to them.”
Already, Israel’s campaign has targeted Iran’s enrichment site at Natanz, centrifuge workshops around Tehran, and a nuclear site in Isfahan. Its strikes have also killed top generals and nuclear scientists.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he would travel to Geneva for meetings with his counterparts from the United Kingdom, France and Germany, as well as the European Union’s top diplomat, indicating a new diplomatic initiative might be underway.
Trump has said he wants something “much bigger” than a ceasefire and has not ruled out the U.S. joining in Israel’s campaign. Iran has warned of dire consequences if the U.S. deepens its involvement, without elaborating.
Iran agreed to redesign Arak to address nuclear concerns
Israel’s military said its fighter jets targeted the Arak heavy water reactor, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of Tehran, in order to prevent it from being used to produce plutonium.
Iranian state TV said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” around the Arak site, which it said had been evacuated ahead of the strike.
Heavy water helps cool nuclear reactors, but it produces plutonium as a byproduct that can potentially be used in nuclear weapons. That would provide Iran another path to the bomb beyond enriched uranium, should it choose to pursue the weapon.
Iran had agreed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to redesign the facility to alleviate proliferation concerns. That work was never completed.
The reactor became a point of contention after Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018. Ali Akbar Salehi, a high-ranking nuclear official in Iran, said in 2019 that Tehran bought extra parts to replace a portion of the reactor that it had poured concrete into under the deal.
Israel said strikes were carried out “in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, has been urging Israel not to strike Iranian nuclear sites. IAEA inspectors reportedly last visited Arak on May 14.
Due to restrictions Iran imposed on inspectors, the IAEA has said it lost “continuity of knowledge” about Iran’s heavy water production — meaning it could not absolutely verify Tehran’s production and stockpile.
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Melzer reported from Tel Aviv, Israel, and Gambrell from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv contributed.