Israel Belshba (AP) – Israeli Defense Minister threatens Iran’s top leader on Thursday The latest missile bullet screen Iran damaged the main hospital in southern Israel and attacked several other residential buildings near Tel Aviv. Meanwhile, Israel attacked a heavy water reactor that was part of Iran’s nuclear program.
According to the Israeli Ministry of Health, at least 240 people have been injured by Iranian missiles. The vast majority of people were injured, including more than 70 people from Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Bershba, and smoke rose as patients were evacuated in an emergency.
Israeli Defense Minister Katz accused of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei And said the army “has been directed and known that in order to achieve all its goals, this man should never continue to exist.”
President Donald Trump said this week Denied Israel’s plan to kill Khamenei. Trump later said there was no plan “at least not yet killed him.”
Israel strike Iran’s Arak Heavy Water Reactorin the latest attack on the country A huge nuclear program. The conflict began last Friday with Israeli air strikes targeting military sites, senior officials and nuclear scientists.
At least 639 people, including 263 civilians, were killed in Iran and injured more than 1,300, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group. In retaliation, Iran launched more than 400 missiles and hundreds of drones, killing at least 24 people in Israel and injuring hundreds of people.
Meanwhile, an Israeli military official said Iran used multiple warhead missiles in a strike on Thursday, posing new challenges to its defense.
The official spoke under anonymous conditions consistent with military regulations.
There is no immediate independent analysis to be performed. However, Iran has suggested in the past that it is pursuing such a weapon.
Rather than not having to track one warhead, missiles with multiple warheads pose a more difficult challenge to air defense systems such as Israel’s iron dome.
Missile lands at major hospitals in southern Israel
The missile attacked almost immediately after the air strike sirens went out, causing a loud explosion that could be heard from a safe room, two doctors told the Associated Press. They talked anonymously because they had no right to brief the media.
The hospital said the main impact was on the old surgical building that has been evacuated in recent days. After the strike, medical facilities are closed to all patients except life-threatening cases. Soroka has more than 1,000 beds and serves about 1 million residents in southern Israel.
The hospital strike did not seriously hurt.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack and vowed to respond: “We will determine the full price of the Tehran tyrant.”
Iran launches hundreds of missiles and drones to Israel, although most are shot down Israel’s multi-layer air defenseit detects incoming fires and shoots down missiles, heading to population centers and critical infrastructure. Israeli officials admit that this is imperfect.
Many hospitals in Israel have activated emergency plans over the past week to convert underground parking lots into hospital floors and move patients underground, especially those who are using ventilators or have difficulty moving quickly.
Israel also owns it An enhanced underground blood bank This begins after Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023 Ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
“No radiation hazard” after reactor strike
Israel’s army said its fighter jets were sealed against the Arak facility and its reactor core to prevent it from being used to produce P.
“This strike targets components used for p-type production to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development,” the military said. Israel alone claims to have attacked another site near Natanz, which has been described as related to Iran’s nuclear program.
Iranian state television said there was “no radiation danger” in the attack on the Arak ruins. An Iranian state television reporter broadcast live in nearby Khondab, saying the facility has been evacuated and civilians around the reactor are not harmed.
Israel warned early Thursday that it would attack the facility and urged the public to flee the area.
Iran refuses to call for surrender or end its nuclear program
Iran has long insisted that its plan is for peaceful purposes. However, it also makes uranium up to 60%, which is short and has poor technology at a level of 90% from weapon level. Iran is the only non-nuclear weapon country rich at this level.
Israel is the only nuclear-weapon country in the Middle East, but does not recognize possession of such a weapon.
The strike comes the second day after Iran’s supreme leader refuses The United States calls for surrender And warned that any military involvement of Americans would “cause irreparable damage to them.” Israel had some restrictions on daily life on Wednesday, suggesting that Iran’s missile threat on its territory is relaxing.
Israel’s campaign has targeted Iran’s targets at centrifugal workshops around Natanz, Tehran and Isfahan’s nuclear site. Its strikes also Killed the top general and nuclear scientists.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he will travel to Geneva on Friday to meet with his European counterparts, indicating that new diplomatic initiatives may be forming. Iran’s official IRNA news agency said the meeting will include foreign ministers from the UK, France and Germany and the EU’s top diplomats.
Trump once said he wanted a “bigger” ceasefire and The United States has not been ruled out for Israeli election campaign. Iran warned that if the United States deepens its participation without elaborating, it would have dire consequences.
Arak has been redesigned to solve nuclear problems
The Arak Heavy Water Reactor is located 250 km (155 miles) southwest of Tehran.
Heavy water helps cool the nuclear reactor, but it produces p pools as a by-product that can be used in nuclear weapons. If Iran chooses to pursue weapons, it will provide Iran with another way to bombs.
Iran has agreed to a nuclear deal with world powers in 2015 to redesign facilities on proliferation issues.
The reactor became the point of debate after President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018. Ali Akbar Salehi, a senior Iranian nuclear official, said in 2019, Tehran purchased additional parts to replace some of the reactors that poured them into concrete to make it inevitable under this agreement.
Israel said during a strike that it remains concerned that the facility could be used to produce P again one day.
“This strike targets components used for Plut production to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
The IAEA, the UN’s nuclear regulator, has been urging Israel not to crack down on Iran’s nuclear sites. IAEA inspectors reportedly visited Arak last time on May 14.
Due to Iran’s restrictions on inspectors, the IAEA said it lost “knowledge continuity” of large water production in Iran, meaning it cannot absolutely verify production and storage in Tehran.
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Sam Mednick, Natalie Melzer and Jon Gambrell. Melzer reported from Tel Aviv, Israel (Israel) and Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Melanie Lidman, an Associated Press writer in Tel Aviv, contributed.