Iran strikes technology park in Israel, Microsoft building damaged
Iran on Friday directly struck targets in southern Israel, including a technology centre, a Microsoft office and military infrastructure, wounding at least seven Israelis.
One of the main targets was the Gav-Yam Negev Advanced Technologies Park, which reportedly houses active military and cyber facilities.
The latest attack from Iran consisted of just one to three missiles, according to Israeli media, with the military failing to intercept one that struck Beersheba.
Circulating footage shows a small crater left amongst cars set ablaze in the car park of a residential building.
The Iranian attack damaged several houses and sparked a large fire in the area.
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According to reports, the blaze reached a Microsoft office, while Israel Railways announced the temporary closure of the Beersheba North-University station due to damage sustained in the attack.
The station, which is part of the intercity line from Tel Aviv to Beersheba-Dimona, has since been re-opened for operation.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard said the Microsoft office was "attacked due to its close cooperation with the Israeli army and its being part of the system supporting aggression, and not just a civilian entity."
"The cyber area that was attacked also includes the residences of people from the espionage and artificial intelligence fields, who operate in direct cooperation with the enemy army and its security apparatus," the statement added.
Footage circulating online shows cars in front of a building in flames after what was reportedly an Iranian missile attack in Be'er Sheva, located in southern Israel, on Friday. pic.twitter.com/3HzriIIfRU — Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) June 20, 2025
Iran's state media confirmed that the latest missile launch targeted the technology park.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared the attacks in a post on X, writing: "The Zionist enemy is being punished. It is being punished right now."
Since last Friday, when Israel launched a military operation against Iran, hundreds of missiles have been fired from Iran. Despite Israel's advanced air defence system, it has not been able to intercept them all.
As a matter of policy, Israel's military censor has prohibited local and international media from publishing details about the exact locations targeted. Earlier this week, the Israeli army acknowledged in a statement that the country's air defences are not fully capable of repelling all missile attacks.
Israel strikes Tehran
Iran's Revolutionary Guard announced early on Friday that three of its members were killed in an overnight Israeli assault on East Azerbaijan Province, northwest Iran.
The air strikes targeted several military sites across Iran, with the Israeli military saying it struck a "research and development centre for Iran's nuclear weapons programme," including a production facility used to create missiles.
"More than 50 fighter jets attacked selected targets of the nuclear weapons programme and industrial sites for the production of missile components in Tehran overnight," the army said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, an Israeli drone attack on Friday afternoon reportedly targeted a nuclear scientist residing in an apartment in the Gisha area of central Tehran.
According to Israeli media, the scientist was assassinated.
Israeli attacks on Iran have so far killed 639 people, the Human Rights Activists News Agency said, wounding over 1,300 0thers.
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