Israel attacks Iran's Arak reactor as Iranian missile hits hospital
Agencies
Tehran/ Tel Aviv
An Iranian missile barrage has struck several sites across Israel, damaging a hospital in the country's south, and Israel has attacked Iran's Arak heavy water nuclear reactor as the two countries trade fire for a seventh consecutive day.
At least 240 people were wounded in the Iranian attacks, including four seriously, according to Israel's Ministry of Health. The majority were lightly wounded, including 70 at the Soroka Medical Center in the city of Beersheba in southern Israel.
Iran said it was targeting a military site in that attack. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed the missile attack hit an Israeli military and intelligence centre located near Soroka hospital, causing only 'superficial damage to a small section' of the health facility.
Iranian projectiles also made impacts in at least six other locations, including in Tel Aviv and two of its districts – Holon and Ramat Gan, according to local media reports.
The Israeli army said its fighter jets struck dozens of sites in Iran, including Natanz and the heavy water nuclear reactor, which was originally called Arak and is now named Khondab.
The military said it specifically targeted 'the structure of the reactor's core seal, which is a key component in plutonium production'.
Iranian media reported air defences were activated in the area of the Khondab nuclear facility and two projectiles hit an area close to it.
Officials told Iranian state TV that evacuations were made before the strikes and no risk of radiation or casualties was detected. There was no mention of any damage.
An Israeli military spokesperson later said that fighter jets had struck the Bushehr nuclear power plant located on Iran's Gulf coast, the Reuters news agency reported. But an Israeli military official later said the statement was 'a mistake' and said he could not confirm or deny if the facility had been targeted.
The escalation comes after Israel launched a major attack on Iranian military facilities and nuclear sites last Friday, killing senior military officials and top nuclear scientists.
Iran responded to that attack by launching waves of missiles at targets in Israel, although most have been shot down by Israel's multitiered air defences. The conflict has quickly widened this week with both countries striking one another.
The Soroka Medical Center, which has more than 1,000 beds and provides services to about one million residents of southern Israel, said in a statement there was 'extensive damage' in several areas of the hospital and the emergency room was treating several minor injuries. The hospital was closed to all new patients except for life-threatening cases.
Many hospitals in Israel have 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.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iranian leaders they would pay 'a heavy price' for the attack, and Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened to eliminate Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
'Such a person is forbidden to exist,' Katz said in a statement cited by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
The Iranian news agency IRNA said the 'main target' of the Beersheba attack 'was the large [Israeli army] Command and Intelligence (IDF C4I) headquarters and the military intelligence camp in the Gav-Yam Technology Park'. The facility is next to the Soroka Medical Center, it said, claiming the health facility suffered only minor damage from the shockwave resulting from the missile strike.
Tight military censorship in Israel means information about sites such as military and intelligence facilities is not released to the public. According to Israeli media reports, a building next to the hospital described as 'sensitive' sustained heavy damage.
Iranian state TV, meanwhile, reported the attack on the Arak site, saying there was 'no radiation danger whatsoever'.
A Washington, DC-based Iranian human rights group said at least 639 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran in the past week of air strikes and more than 1,300 have been wounded. Iran has fired about 400 missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel, killing at least 24 people and wounding hundreds.
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