Iranian missile hits main hospital in southern Israel, causing ‘extensive damage’

An Iranian missile slammed into the main hospital in southern Israel early on Thursday, wounding people and causing “extensive damage", according to a spokesperson. Israeli media aired footage of blown-out windows and heavy black smoke.

Separate Iranian strikes hit a high-rise apartment building in Tel Aviv and other sites in central Israel. A hospital in Tel Aviv said it had received 16 wounded people, three with serious injuries.

Israel, meanwhile, carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, its latest attack on Iran’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.

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 towards population centres and critical infrastructure.

The missile hit the Soroka Medical Centre, which has over 1,000 beds and provides services to the approximately 1 million residents of Israel’s south.

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

Iranian state TV, meanwhile, reported the attack on the Arak site, saying there was “no radiation danger whatsoever”.

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 it would attack the facility and urged the public to flee the area. The Israeli military said Thursday’s round of airstrikes targeted Tehran and other areas of Iran, without elaborating.

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 on Wednesday, suggesting the missile threat from Iran on its territory was easing.

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