An Iranian missile struck a major hospital in southern Israel early Thursday, causing injuries and extensive damage, officials said.
Isolated Iranian attacks hit a multi-story apartment complex in Tel Aviv and other targets in central Israel, injuring at least 40 people, according to Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service.
At the same time, Israel struck Iran's heavy water reactor at Arak, its latest attack on the country's burgeoning nuclear program, on the seventh day of a conflict that began with a sudden wave of Israeli air strikes targeting military targets, senior officers and nuclear scientists.
Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel, though most have been intercepted by Israel's multi-layered air defense system, which detects incoming threats and shoots down missiles aimed at populated areas and critical infrastructure.
The rocket hit the Soroka Medical Center, which has more than 1,000 beds and serves about a million residents of southern Israel.
The hospital said in a statement that several parts of the center were damaged and that the emergency department was treating a few minor injuries. The hospital was closed to all new patients except those whose lives were in danger.
Last week, many medical facilities in Israel activated emergency plans, converting underground parking lots into hospital floors and moving patients underground, especially those on ventilators or who are difficult to move quickly.
Meanwhile, Iranian state television reported an attack on the Arak facility, claiming there was “no radiation threat.”
An Iranian state television reporter in the nearby town of Khondab said all residents of the site had been evacuated and there had been no damage to civilian areas around the reactor.
Earlier on Thursday, Israel warned of a planned attack on the site and called on residents to leave the area.
The Israeli military said a series of airstrikes targeted Tehran and other areas of Iran on Thursday, without giving details.
The strikes came a day after Iran's supreme leader rejected US calls for surrender and warned that any American military intervention would cause “irreparable damage”.
The Israeli operation has already targeted Iran's enrichment facility at Natanz, centrifuge facilities around T
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
