Latest news with #Negev
BBC News
a day ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Israeli hospital hit by Iranian missile strike
A hospital in the Israeli town of Beersheba has been hit by an Iranian missile on the seventh day of the conflict between the two said the strike had targeted a military site close to the hospital, not the facility itself. At least 89 people were injured in the overnight attacks - which hit locations across Israel - according to Israel's emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA.)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a post on X that Israel would "exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran".Meanwhile, Israel's military said it had targeted Iran's nuclear sites including the "inactive" Arak heavy water reactor and Natanz facility. How did latest conflict start and where could it lead?Watch: How close is Iran to a nuclear weapon?Your questions answeredThe secretive nuclear site only a US bomb could hit The conflict began on 13 June, when Israel launched attacks on Iranian nuclear sites and killed several top generals and nuclear deputy foreign affairs minister said Iran's hit on the Soroka Medical Centre was "deliberate" and "criminal".In a post on X, Sharren Haskel said the site that was the main medical centre for Israel's entire Negev correspondents in the area described the scale of the damage as extensive, with debris and dust floating through the air long after the blast. On Thursday, the Israeli military said it told people living in the cities of Iranian cities Arak and Khondab, which are near the reactor, to leave the area "as soon as possible," in a post on nuclear facilities that were attacked include a partially-built heavy-water research reactor. Heavy-water reactors produce plutonium, which - like enriched uranium - can be used to make the core of an atom bomb. Iranian media reported two projectiles hitting an area near the facility. There were no reports of radiation threats. In a separate announcement, Israel's military said it also struck a site in the area of Natanz, which it said contains "unique components and equipment used to develop nuclear weapons".Israel has alleged Iran has recently "taken steps to weaponise" its enriched uranium stockpile, which can be used for power plants or nuclear bombs. Iran has always claimed that its nuclear programme is entirely armed forces said their response to the Israeli attack will have "no limits."It has lodged a complaint with the UN nuclear watchdog, accusing Israel of "continuing its aggression and actions contrary to international laws that prohibit attacks on nuclear facilities," Iranian state media reported. The latest attacks come at a critical time, as President Trump considers the possibility of direct American involvement in Israel's deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi warned the US that Tehran will have "no other option but to use its tools to teach aggressors a lesson" if it intervenes in support of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei rejected Trump's calls to surrender, and Iran has threatened to strike American military interests in the Middle East in response. Trump, so far, has given no clear indication of his next move. According to the BBC's partner CBS, he has approved plans to attack Iran but has held off on a final decision about striking the Wednesday, Trump said, "I may do it, I may not do it", when asked a question about US involvement in Iran.
The National
a day ago
- Politics
- The National
Explained: Israel's secretive nuclear weapons programme
Israel's justification for its war against Iran is its claim that Tehran is on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fears that a nuclear-armed Iran would alter the balance of power in the Middle East and provide Tehran with the ability to follow through on calls for Israel's destruction. However, Israel remains the only country in the Middle East believed to possess a nuclear arsenal. It has never officially acknowledged holding nuclear weapons, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated last January that it has 90 nuclear warheads. Israel is also believed to possess enough fissile material to produce hundreds more warheads, according to the Centre for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation and the Nuclear Threat Initiative. Much of what is known or suspected about Israel's nuclear capabilities centres on its facility near the southern town of Dimona. The Negev Nuclear Research Centre is a secretive operation in the Negev Desert. Israel began its nuclear programme in 1952 by establishing its Atomic Energy Commission. It has operated a nuclear reactor and an underground plutonium separation plant in Dimona since the 1960s, according to the US-based Arms Control Association. It has been reported that the facility is home to decades-old underground laboratories that have worked to formulate weapons-grade plutonium for a nuclear bomb programme. For years, Israel has stuck to a policy of ambiguity, only saying it would not be the first nation to 'introduce' nuclear weapons to the Middle East. Worldwide, the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency has said only nine countries openly acknowledge possessing nuclear weapons or are believed to possess them. The US, Britain, France, Russia and China are officially counted as holders of a nuclear arsenal under the UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The treaty was signed in 1968 by major nuclear and non-nuclear powers and pledged co-operation in preventing the spread of atomic weapons. Israel has never joined the treaty. The country has fought a number of wars with its Arab neighbours since its founding in 1948 in the wake of the Holocaust. An atomic weapons programme, even if undeclared, provides it with an edge to deter its enemies. Preventing Iran achieving nuclear status has been a key policy objective of the Israeli government, despite Iran long insisting its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes and not aimed at making a bomb. Iran signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1968.
News24
a day ago
- Politics
- News24
Netanyahu warns Iran will ‘pay a heavy price' for hospital strike as Trump mulls US action
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of retaliation for a hospital strike. Iran said it was targeting Israeli military and intelligence headquarters near the hospital. US President Donald Trump is weighing direct involvement in the conflict. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran would 'pay heavy price' after a hospital strike on Thursday morning. Israel's deputy foreign minister Sharren Haskel called Iran's strike on an Israeli hospital 'deliberate' and 'criminal', after the Islamic republic fired its latest salvo of missiles at the country. 'Iran just hit Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva with a ballistic missile. Not a military base. A hospital. This is the main medical centre for Israel's entire Negev region. Deliberate. Criminal. Civilian target. The world must speak out,' Sharren Haskel wrote on X. Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said on Thursday that at least 47 people were injured in Iran's latest missile strikes, updating an earlier toll and reporting 18 more injured 'while running to shelter'. Three people are in serious condition, and two are in moderate condition, an MDA spokesperson said in a statement, adding that 'an additional 42 people sustained minor injuries from shrapnel and blast trauma, and 18 civilians were injured while running to shelter.' READ | Israel sirens sound as missiles shot from Iran, countries evacuate citizens from conflict Reuters reported that Iranian missiles struck an Israeli hospital on Thursday while Israel hit targets across Iran as US President Donald Trump kept the world guessing about whether the US would join Israel in air strikes seeking to destroy Tehran's nuclear facilities. A week of Israeli air and missile strikes against its major rival has wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military command, damaged its nuclear capabilities and killed hundreds of people, while Iranian retaliatory strikes have killed at least two dozen civilians in Israel. The worst-ever conflict between the two regional powers has raised fears that it will draw in world powers and further destabilise the Middle East. Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Wednesday, Trump declined to say if he had made any decision on whether to join Israel's air campaign. 'I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do,' he said. Trump in later remarks said Iranian officials wanted to come to Washington for a meeting. 'We may do that' he said, adding 'it's a little late' for such talks. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rebuked Trump's earlier call for Iran to surrender in a recorded speech played on television, his first appearance since Friday. 'Any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage,' he said. The Iranian nation will not surrender. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Iran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons and says its programme is for peaceful purposes only. The International Atomic Energy Agency said last week Tehran was in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in 20 years. The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain plan to hold nuclear talks with their Iranian counterpart on Friday in Geneva to urge Iran to return to the negotiating table, a German diplomatic source told Reuters. Israel, which is not a party to the international Non-Proliferation Treaty, is the only country in the Middle East believed to have nuclear weapons. Israel does not deny or confirm that. On Thursday morning, several Iranian missiles struck populated areas in Israel, including a hospital in the southern part of the country, according to an Israeli military official. Trails of missiles and interception efforts were visible in the skies over Tel Aviv, with explosions heard as incoming projectiles were intercepted. Israeli media also reported direct hits in central Israel. Emergency services said five people had been seriously injured in the attacks and dozens of others hurt in three separate locations. People were still trapped in a building in a south Tel Aviv neighbourhood, they added. Images showed buildings extensively damaged in Ramat Ghan near Tel Aviv and emergency workers helping residents, including children. Soroka Medical Centre in Beersheba, in southern Israel, reported it had sustained damage. Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it was targeting Israeli military and intelligence headquarters near the hospital. In Iran, the ISNA news agency reported that an area near the heavy water facility of the Khondab nuclear facility was targeted by Israel. Earlier, air defences were activated in Tehran, intercepting drones on the outskirts of the capital, the semi-official SNN news agency reported. Iranian news agencies also reported it had arrested 18 'enemy agents' who were building drones for Israeli attacks in the northeastern city of Mashhad. Some residents of Tehran, a city of 10 million people, jammed highways out of the city on Wednesday. Arezou, a 31-year-old Tehran resident, told Reuters by phone that she had made it to the nearby resort town of Lavasan. 'My friend's house in Tehran was attacked and her brother was injured. They are civilians,' she said. 'Why are we paying the price for the regime's decision to pursue a nuclear programme?' Trump has veered from proposing a swift diplomatic end to the war to suggesting the US might join it. A source familiar with internal discussions said Trump and his team were considering options that included joining Israel in strikes against Iranian nuclear installations. But the prospect of a US strike against Iran has exposed divisions in the coalition of supporters that brought Trump to power, with some of his base urging him not to get the country involved in a new Middle East US Senate Democrats urged Trump to prioritise diplomacy and seek a binding agreement to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons, while expressing concern about his administration's approach. 'We are alarmed by the Trump administration's failure to provide answers to fundamental questions. By law, the president must consult Congress and seek authorisation if he is considering taking the country to war,' they said in a statement. 'He owes Congress and the American people a strategy for US engagement in the region.' In social media posts on Tuesday, Trump mused about killing Khamenei. Russian President Vladimir Putin, asked what his reaction would be if Israel did kill Iran's Supreme Leader with the assistance of the US, said on Thursday: 'I do not even want to discuss this possibility. I do not want to.' Putin said all sides should look for ways to end hostilities in a way that ensured both Iran's right to peaceful nuclear power and Israel's right to the unconditional security of the Jewish state. Since Friday, Iran has fired around 400 missiles at Israel, some 40 of which have pierced air defences, killing 24 people, all of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities. The Iranian missile salvoes mark the first time in decades of shadow war and proxy conflict that a significant number of projectiles fired from Iran have penetrated defences, killing Israelis in their homes. Iran has reported at least 224 deaths in Israeli attacks, mostly civilians, but has not updated that toll for days. US-based Iranian activist news agency HRANA said 639 people had been killed in the Israeli attacks and 1 329 injured as of 18 June. Reuters could not independently verify the report.
The National
a day ago
- Health
- The National
Dozens injured in major Iranian rocket attacks across Israel
Israel was hit on Thursday by what appears to be the largest wave of attacks since the war with Iran broke out. The Israeli military said search and rescue forces were working in 'several locations across the country'. The National heard the sounds of missile interceptions and impacts for at least 10 minutes in Jerusalem. The fire service said there was a 'direct hit' on a residential building in the Tel Aviv area. Israeli medics said 32 people were injured, including two seriously, in the barrage. Several of the injured are being treated 'at multiple scenes', the Magen David Adom ambulance service added. In central Israel, missiles were said to have hit three residential buildings. In the south, the country's main Soroka Hospital in Beersheba sustained a direct hit, with officials reporting 'extensive damage'. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sharren Haskel confirmed that Iran had hit Soroka Hospital with a ballistic missile. 'This is the main medical centre for Israel's entire Negev region,' she said. 'Deliberate. Criminal. Civilian target. The world must speak out.' Social media footage showed medics at Soroka Hospital emerging to scenes of major destruction. Videos also showed extensive damage inside the building, where the door is said to have collapsed. Fires are still raging at some of the scenes. A representative of the hospital said several areas of the building were damaged and people had been wounded in the attack. The hospital has requested that people do not come for treatment. The hospital has more than 1,000 beds and provides services to the about one million residents of Israel's south, according to its website. The attacks come less than a day after the Israeli military relaxed civilian rules regarding public activities. In Iran, Israel's latest attack struck an area near the Arak heavy water reactor on Thursday morning, hours after it told people to leave, the Iranian Student News Agency reported. Officials said the plant had been evacuated before the attack and that there was no radiation risk, ISNA added. An Iranian state television reporter in the nearby town of Khondab said there was no damage done to civilian areas near the reactor. The seventh day of the war came 24 hours after Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected US calls for surrender and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause 'irreparable damage to them'.
LBCI
2 days ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Potential nuclear risk: Could Israel's Dimona radiation reach Lebanon if targeted?
Report by Petra Abou Haidar, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi As tensions escalate in the region, one question looms large: what happens if Israel's Dimona nuclear facility is targeted, which lies approximately 400 to 600 kilometers from Lebanon? Situated in the Negev desert, Dimona is widely believed to house a nuclear reactor, though Israel has never officially confirmed its exact nature or capabilities. According to international reports, it is classified as a power-generating nuclear reactor. A strike on such a facility could lead to radioactive leakage, potentially spreading beyond Israel's borders depending on wind direction and atmospheric conditions. Can radiation reach Lebanon in this case? While there is no way to definitively predict the extent of contamination in the event of a strike, the scale of radiation leakage and prevailing weather patterns would be determining factors. Crucially, Israel remains tight-lipped about the materials and exact functions of the site. In Lebanon, the body responsible for responding to such emergencies is the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission. Established in 1995 with support from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Lebanon's National Council for Scientific Research, the commission is responsible for monitoring radiation levels and implementing emergency measures as necessary. Should radiation be detected, protocols would involve analyzing air quality and assessing levels of radioactive spread before activating appropriate response plans. Although public anxiety is understandable, Lebanese experts urge against panic. They caution that fear-mongering—especially through social media ads promoting the so-called "comprehensive nuclear protection fund"—only fuels misinformation.
