Dozens injured in major Iranian rocket attacks across Israel

The National

5 hours ago

Israel was hit on Thursday by what appears to be the largest wave of attacks since the war with Iran broke out.
The Israeli military said search and rescue forces were working in 'several locations across the country'.
The National heard the sounds of missile interceptions and impacts for at least 10 minutes in Jerusalem. The fire service said there was a 'direct hit' on a residential building in the Tel Aviv area.
Israeli medics said 32 people were injured, including two seriously, in the barrage. Several of the injured are being treated 'at multiple scenes', the Magen David Adom ambulance service added.
In central Israel, missiles were said to have hit three residential buildings. In the south, the country's main Soroka Hospital in Beersheba sustained a direct hit, with officials reporting 'extensive damage'.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sharren Haskel confirmed that Iran had hit Soroka Hospital with a ballistic missile. 'This is the main medical centre for Israel's entire Negev region,' she said. 'Deliberate. Criminal. Civilian target. The world must speak out.'
Social media footage showed medics at Soroka Hospital emerging to scenes of major destruction. Videos also showed extensive damage inside the building, where the door is said to have collapsed. Fires are still raging at some of the scenes.
A representative of the hospital said several areas of the building were damaged and people had been wounded in the attack. The hospital has requested that people do not come for treatment.
The hospital has more than 1,000 beds and provides services to the about one million residents of Israel's south, according to its website.
The attacks come less than a day after the Israeli military relaxed civilian rules regarding public activities.
In Iran, Israel's latest attack struck an area near the Arak heavy water reactor on Thursday morning, hours after it told people to leave, the Iranian Student News Agency reported.
Officials said the plant had been evacuated before the attack and that there was no radiation risk, ISNA added.
An Iranian state television reporter in the nearby town of Khondab said there was no damage done to civilian areas near the reactor.
The seventh day of the war came 24 hours after Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected US calls for surrender and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause 'irreparable damage to them'.