Israel-Iran live updates: Key Israeli hospital hit by Iran, IDF says; Trump weighing U.S. action
A hospital in southern Israel was hit during an Iranian missile barrage, the Israel Defense Forces said, as Iran and Israel again exchanged strikes overnight. The strike caused 'extensive damage' in several areas, a spokesperson for the Soroka Medical Center said on social media, adding that an assessment of casualties was being carried out. The IDF said it had struck dozens of military targets in Iran. President Donald Trump remains coy about his plans for the United States' potential involvement in strikes on Iran, telling reporters at the White House that 'nobody knows what I'm going to do' and that he prefers to 'make the final decision one second before it's due.'
President Donald Trump delivered an 'ultimate ultimatum' to Iranian leaders to dismantle their nuclear program, he told reporters on Wednesday. But he said he has not made a final decision about whether to strike Iran and draw Washington into a new conflict in the Middle East.
Trump said 'the next week is going to be big' and maintained that Iranian officials are eager to negotiate, but he explained that after Iranians reached out to him, he warned them that 'it's very late to be talking.'
Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, Israel, was directly hit during a missile barrage early Thursday, Israel's Foreign Ministry said. A spokesperson for the hospital said on social media in the immediate aftermath that there was 'extensive damage' and that it was carrying out an assessment, including of casualties.
Israel's Fire and Rescue Authority said a direct hit on the medical facility caused a fire. The hospital is the largest in southern Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
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