Day 6 of war: Iranian missiles target Israeli hospital; IDF pummels 'inactive' Arak nuclear reactor

Israel has said that a hospital was struck after Iran fired a barrage of missiles, injuring several people. The missiles landed on a hospital in Beersheba's Soroka Hospital, according to reports.

Israel has termed the incident "deliberate" and "criminal", as there are no military facilities in the vicinity. The IDF’s Southern Command base is located over two kilometres away, reported The Times of Israel. The hospital was damaged in the strike and its old surgical building suffered significant impact, according to Israeli media.

President Isaac Herzog told reporters that vulnerable civilians were targeted in the barrage. "A baby in intensive care. A mother by their bedside. A doctor rushing between beds. An elderly resident in a nursing home. These were some of the targets of Iran’s missile attacks on Israeli civilians this morning," Herzog wrote on X.

Footage from the site showed rescue teams struggling to save people trapped in an elevator at the hospital.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to X against the hospital strike to state that he would pay Iranian leadership to pay for the action. "This morning, Iran's terrorist tyrants launched missiles at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba and at a civilian population in the centre of the country.

"We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran," he added.

Iran continues to retaliate to the Israeli action and as many as 30 people were lightly wounded from the impacts across the country. Large blasts were heard across Israel and at least three direct impact sites were reported in the initial aftermath of the sirens. 

Attack on Arak site

Soon after the Israeli Defence Forces issued a warning to civilians to leave the premises of the Arak reactor, the fighter jets pummeled the "inactive" reactor. Israel alleges that the reactor was designed to produce high-yield plutonium, which is a material used to make nuclear weapons.

"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 IDF statement read.

Besides, IDF jets also struck dozens of military sites, including factories making raw materials, parts used to assemble ballistic missiles, and locations for building Iranian air defence systems and missiles. Israel had destroyed Iran’s police headquarters in Tehran.

"Israeli Air Force fighter jets “destroyed the headquarters of the Iranian regime’s internal security, the main arm of the Iranian dictator’s oppression," Defense Minister Israel Katz told reporters.

Middle East