BBC on the scene at Israeli hospital struck by Iranian missile
A hospital in the Israeli town of Beersheba has been hit as Iran fired a barrage of missiles at the country, with the conflict between the two nations continuing into a seventh day.
Iran said it had targeted a military site close to the Soroka hospital, not the facility itself. Israel said 271 people were injured in strikes reported across the country.
Meanwhile, Israel’s military said it had targeted Iran’s nuclear sites including the “inactive” Arak heavy water reactor and Natanz facility.
Israel said at least 24 people had been killed in the country since the start of the conflict. Iranian state media last updated its death toll on 15 June, when it said 224 people had been killed.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – a Washington-based human rights organisation that has long tracked Iran – has said 639 people have been killed in Iran since Friday.
The conflict began on 13 June, when Israel launched attacks on Iranian nuclear sites and killed several top generals and nuclear scientists.
Israel’s deputy foreign affairs minister said Iran’s hit on the Soroka hospital on Thursday was “deliberate” and “criminal”.
In a post on X, Sharren Haskel said the site was the main medical centre for Israel’s entire Negev region.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would “exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran”.
Israel also threatened Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with Defence Minister Israel Katz saying Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist”.
Katz told reporters: “Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed – he personally gives the order to fire on hospitals.”
Khamenei is Iran’s spiritual leader and its highest authority, with final say over all government matters in the country.
In response to a question from Israeli broadcaster News 12 about whether Khamenei was a target, Netanyahu replied: “I have instructed that no one is immune.”
Netanyahu told reporters at the site that Israeli forces had harmed “the nuclear program very strongly” but claimed that there are “other nuclear targets” and “nuclear missiles” in Iran.
“We will remove the nuclear threat, just as I promised. By the end of this operation, there will be no nuclear threat to Israel, nor will there be a ballistic missile threat.”
He also told broadcaster Kan that Israel had destroyed “more than half” of Iran’s missile launchers but that “all help” would be welcome in destroying nuclear sites.
BBC correspondents reporting from the hospital described the damage as extensive, with debris and plumes of smoke floating through the air long after the blast.
Several wards were completely destroyed as fire spread through one of the buildings, causing windows to smash and ceilings to collapse, hospital authorities said.
About 200 patients will be transferred to other hospitals centres, Prof Shlomi Codish, chief executive of the Soroka hospital said.
Elsewhere on Thursday morning, an Iranian ballistic missile struck the business district of Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv – causing a large sheet of glass to fall several floors from a skyscraper and part of an electrical pylon to crash to the ground.
About 20 people are believed to have been injured by the blast in the area, authorities have said.
Israel’s military, which targeted the Arak heavy water reactor on Thursday, said it told people living in the nearby Iranian cities of Arak and Khondab to leave the area “as soon as possible” prior to the attack.
Heavy water reactors produce plutonium, which – like enriched uranium – can be used to make the core of an atom bomb.
Iranian media reported two projectiles hitting an area near the facility. There were no reports of radiation threats.
In a separate announcement, Israel’s military said it also struck a site in the area of Natanz, which it said contains “unique components and equipment used to develop nuclear weapons”.
Israel has alleged Iran has recently “taken steps to weaponise” its enriched uranium stockpile, which can be used for power plants or nuclear bombs. Iran has always claimed that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful.
Iran’s armed forces said their response to the Israeli attack will have “no limits”.
Iran has lodged a complaint with the UN nuclear watchdog, accusing Israel of “continuing its aggression and actions contrary to international laws that prohibit attacks on nuclear facilities,” Iranian state media reported.
Reuters
Arak’s nuclear facility had been evacuated before the attack according to Iranian media
The UN’s high commissioner Volker Türk said it was “appalling to see how civilians are treated as collateral damage” in the conflict.
He warned officials against “inflammatory rhetoric”, which he said pointed to a “worrying intention to inflict harm on civilians.”
“The only way out of this spiralling illogic of escalation is maximum restraint, full respect for international law, and return in good faith to the negotiating table,” he said.
On X, the International Committee of the Red Cross stressed that hospitals must be “respected and protected” under international law.
And the World Health Organization’s director general said in a statement: “We call on all parties to protect health facilities, health personnel, and patients at all times.”
The latest attacks come at a critical time, as President Trump considers the possibility of direct American involvement in Israel’s campaign.
On Thursday afternoon the White House said Trump would make a decision within the next two weeks, as he believes there is a “substantial chance of negotiations” with Iran.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi previously warned the US that Tehran will have “no other option but to use its tools to teach aggressors a lesson” if it intervenes in support of Israel.
The Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei rejected Trump’s calls to surrender, and Iran has threatened to strike American military interests in the Middle East in response.
Trump, so far, has given no firm indication of his next move. According to the BBC’s partner CBS, he has approved plans to attack Iran but has held off on a final decision about striking the country.
On Wednesday, Trump said, “I may do it, I may not do it”, when asked a question about US involvement in Iran.
Additional reporting by Tom Bennett in Jerusalem
