The Latest: Dozens wounded in Iranian strikes across Israel, as Israel hits Arak reactor site
An Iranian missile hit the main hospital in southern Israel early Thursday, wounding people and causing 'extensive damage,' the medical facility said. Israeli media aired footage of blown-out windows and heavy black smoke.
Separate Iranian strikes hit a high-rise apartment building in Tel Aviv and other sites in central Israel. At least 40 people were wounded, according to Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service.
Israel, meanwhile, carried out strikes on Iran's Arak heavy water reactor, its latest attack on Iran's sprawling nuclear program. Iranian state television said there was 'no radiation danger whatsoever" and that the facility had been evacuated before the attack.
The seventh day of conflict came a day after Iran's supreme leader rejected U.S. calls for surrender and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause 'irreparable damage to them.'
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Here's the latest:
China offers to play a role in restoring peace and stability in Middle East
Guo Jiakun, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, says China is willing to play an intermediary role in helping end the conflict.
"China has maintained communication with Iran, Israel, Egypt, Oman and other parties, calling on all sides to take immediate measures to de-escalate tensions and prevent the region from falling into greater turmoil,' Guo said Thursday at a daily briefing.
'China is willing to continue working with countries in the region and the international community to play a constructive role in restoring peace and stability in the Middle East as soon as possible,' he added.
Many aircraft dispersed from major air base in Middle East used by US military
A major air base in the Middle East used by the U.S. military has seen many of the aircraft typically on its tarmac dispersed this weekend.
The Al Udeid Air Base outside of Doha, Qatar, is the forward headquarters of the U.S. military's Central Command. Typically, the air base is filled with multiple transport planes, fighter jets and drones.
In a satellite photo taken Wednesday by Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press, the air base's tarmac had emptied.
The U.S. military has not acknowledged the change. However, it comes after ships off the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet base in Bahrain also have dispersed. That's typically a military strategy to ensure your fighting ships and planes aren't destroyed in case of an attack.
Al-Sistani warns against a strike on Iran's senior religious or political leadership
Iraq's top Shiite authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, warned on Thursday that a strike on Iran's senior religious or political leadership could ignite uncontrollable chaos across the region, an apparent reference to threats that Israel or the U.S. might kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In a statement, al-Sistani denounced the ongoing Israeli military campaign against Iran. He said that targeting the country's top leadership would be a 'criminal act (that) would shatter regional stability, deepen human suffering, and inflict far-reaching harm on the interests of all nations.'
He called on the international community — particularly Muslim countries — to increase diplomatic pressure, halt the aggression and broker a peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.
Widely seen as a voice of moderation, al-Sistani represents a school of thought in Shiism opposed to direct rule by clerics, the system in place in Iran, where Khamenei has the final word in all matters.
China urges de-escalation of conflict especially by Israel
China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday said Beijing was 'deeply concerned' about the conflict between Iran and Israel and called for both sides to de-escalate.
"China strongly urges the parties involved, especially Israel, to prioritize the interests of regional peoples and cease fire and hostilities immediately to ease current tensions,' said Guo Jiakun, spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry in Beijing.
Guo added that the conflict was 'escalating, causing tremendous harm to the peoples of both countries and seriously undermining regional and global peace and stability. China is deeply concerned about this. There are no winners in an escalating conflict. It will only lead to greater destruction and deeper turmoil."
Patients evacuated from Soroka Medical Center after missile strike
Black smoke rose from the Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba as emergency teams evacuated patients.
Two doctors told The Associated Press that the missile struck almost immediately after air raid sirens went off, causing a loud explosion that could be heard from a safe room. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
— Sam Mednick in Beersheba, Israel
Iran says attack on Israel targeted a military site
Iran, through its state-run IRNA news agency, claimed it targeted an Israeli military site, not the hospital.
Iran claimed the 'blast wave' of the missile struck the hospital.
Egyptian FM pushes for 'de-escalation' dialogue on call with European diplomats
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty spoke with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and British National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell on Thursday about the escalating tensions between Iran and Israel.
In a statement after the call, Abdelatty said that the E3, an informal foreign and security cooperation arrangement between the U.K., Germany and France, is responsible for opening 'channels for dialogue and negotiation and utilize all available channels with the Iranian side to reach compromises that contribute to de-escalation.'
Attack on Arak reactor meant to prevent plutonium production, Israel says
Israel's military said its fighter jets targeted the Arak facility and its reactor core seal to halt it from being used to produce plutonium.
'The strike targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development,' the Israelis said.
Iran has long maintained its program is for peaceful purposes. However, it also enriches uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
Iran is the only non-nuclear-weapon state to enrich at that level.
Israel separately claimed to have struck another site around Natanz it described as being related to Iran's nuclear program.
Several countries prepare to evacuate their citizens from Iran and Israel
Japan, China, Indonesia and Oman said Thursday they were preparing to help evacuate their citizens from Iran and Israel as the conflict between the two countries intensified.
Japan said it is dispatching two military aircraft to Djibouti ahead of a possible airlifting of Japanese nationals from Iran. Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said he ordered the dispatch of two C-2 transport aircraft, along with 120 servicemembers, to the Horn of African nation where Japan has a military base. About 280 Japanese are based in Iran and 1,000 others are in Israel.
The Chinese Embassy in Israel, meanwhile, said it will organize group evacuations by bus from Israel starting Friday. A notice posted on the embassy's WeChat social media account said Chinese citizens would be taken out through the Taba border crossing to Egypt.
The Indonesian government said it would evacuate its citizens from Iran. About 386 Indonesians, mostly students, are in Iran, primarily in the city of Qom, he said. His ministry, meanwhile, said earlier that about 194 Indonesians are in Israel, the majority of whom are in the southern city of Rafah.
And Oman said it had evacuated 245 of its citizens and a number of nationals from other countries via the Iranian city of Bandar Abbas, along the country's Persian Gulf coast. Ten buses also brought Omani citizens from the Iran's north into Turkey, and three other buses crossed into Iraq, Oman's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Israel's main hospital in south sustained direct hit from Iranian missile with 'extensive damage'
Israel's main southern hospital sustained a direct hit Thursday from an Iranian missile, with officials reporting 'extensive damage' there.
Soroka Medical Center is the main hospital in Israel's south.
A spokesperson for the Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheba said the hospital suffered 'extensive damage' in different areas and people were wounded in the attack. The hospital has requested people not come for treatment.
The hospital has over 1,000 beds and provides services to the approximately 1 million residents of Israel's south, according to the hospital's website.
Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 639, rights group says
Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 639 people and wounded 1,329 others, a human rights group said Thursday.
The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists offered the figures, which covers the entirety of Iran. It said of those dead, it identified 263 civilians and 154 security force personnel being killed.
Human Rights Activists, which also provided detailed casualty figures during the 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, crosschecks local reports in the Islamic Republic against a network of sources it has developed in the country.
Iran has not been offering regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimized casualties in the past. Its last update, issued Monday, put the death toll at 224 people being killed and 1,277 others being wounded.
No US plans to be part of EU-Iran talks — for now
A U.S. official said Wednesday there no plans for U.S. involvement in nuclear talks set between senior European diplomats and Iran in Geneva, although that could change.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic communications, also noted that the Europeans have been wanting to play a role in the negotiations for months but have been held back by the U.S.
That position, the official said, may be changing as the hostilities intensify
— By Matthew Lee in Washington
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