Iranian missile hits main hospital in southern Israel, as IDF target Arak nuclear facility
An Iranian missile has struck the main hospital in southern Israel, wounding people and causing "extensive damage," according to a spokesperson.
Separate Iranian strikes early on Thursday local time hit a high-rise apartment building in Tel Aviv and other sites in the country as Israel carried out strikes on Iran's Arak heavy-water nuclear facility.
The missile that hit the Soroka Medical Center, which has more than 1,000 beds, was supposed to hit the Israeli military and intelligence headquarters near the hospital, Iran's Revolutionary Guard said after the strike.
Speaking about the strike, Israel's prime minister said: "We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran."
"Iran just hit Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva with a ballistic missile," Israel's Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Sharren Haskel said.
"Not a military base. A hospital.
Many hospitals in Israel activated emergency plans in the past week, converting underground parking to hospital floors and moving patients underground, especially those who are on ventilators or are difficult to move quickly.
Iranian state TV, meanwhile, reported an 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.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed it struck the Arak reactor's core seal, which it claims is a key component in plutonium production — the material used to produce nuclear weapons.
"The reactor was originally intended for the production of weapons-grade plutonium, capable of enabling the development of nuclear weapons," the IDF said on Telegram.
The military said it also hit a nuclear weapons development site in Natanz that contained specialised equipment used to advance nuclear weapons production.
Israel had warned earlier on Thursday morning it would attack the facility and urged the public to flee the area.
ABC/Wires
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