An Iranian missile struck a major hospital in southern Israel on Thursday, causing serious damage and provoking sharp reactions from Israeli authorities. In response to the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the army to intensify its attacks and vowed that "the tyrants in Tehran will pay the full price," Politico quoted him as saying.
The strike on the hospital threatens to escalate hostilities after a week in which Israel killed senior Iranian regime officials and attacked nuclear sites, to which Tehran responded with a barrage of ballistic missiles.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said: "The prime minister and I have instructed the army to increase the intensity of attacks on strategic targets in Iran and on government targets in Tehran in order to eliminate threats to the state of Israel and undermine the ayatollah's regime," referring to the Israel Defense Forces.
With the Middle East on the brink of a new devastating war, US President Donald Trump is seriously considering joining Israel's attack on Iran. The US military has the firepower Israel needs to attack Iran's underground nuclear facility at Fordow.
On Thursday morning, patients and staff took shelter at the Soroka Medical Center in southern Israel, where the Iranian strike caused significant damage, according to The Times of Israel .
"The tyrants in Tehran will pay the full price," Netanyahu vowed on Thursday morning in response to the Iranian strikes.
Meanwhile, Israel struck the Arak heavy water reactor in Iran on Thursday morning, according to Iranian state television.
The heavy water used at Arak helps cool nuclear reactors, but it also produces plutonium as a byproduct that can be used to make nuclear weapons. Under the now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal, Iran agreed to redesign the facility to ease concerns about nuclear proliferation.
According to Iranian state media, there was "no radiation hazard" and the facility was evacuated before the strike. Earlier on Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces posted a warning on social media urging residents to evacuate the city of Arak.
Iran fired about 30 ballistic missiles at Israel on Thursday morning, according to the Israeli military. Other rockets hit residential buildings in central Israel, seriously injuring three people.
European politicians have called for restraint on both sides, but their diplomatic efforts have so far yielded no results.
Earlier, Iran's state news agency IRNA said that the morning attack in Beersheba targeted a military site "near a hospital." Iranian media said it was the Israeli army's "command and intelligence headquarters" and an army intelligence camp in the Gav Yam technology park.
The park, established with the support of the Israeli military, is located about two kilometers from the Soroka hospital, which was hit by an Iranian missile this morning.