Missile strikes Israel's main hospital after IDF blasts Iran's nuclear reactor; Netanyahu warns, ‘Will make Tehran pay…’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday condemned the latest Iranian strike on the main hospital in southern Israel. He warned of a proportionate response after a barrage of missiles struck two towns near Tel Aviv, besides hitting Soroka Hospital in Beersheba.

• As per AFP reports, 47 people were injured in the latest attacks.
• Defence Minister Israel Katz said that orders have been issued to “intensify” strikes on Iran.
• In a post on X, Benjamin Netanyahu said, “This morning, Iran's terrorist dictators fired missiles at Soroka Hospital... and at civilians in the centre of the country. We will make the tyrants in Tehran pay a heavy price.”

• This latest attack came after the two side traded missiles for the seventh consecutive day after Israel's surprise attack in which Iran's top generals and nuclear scientists were killed.
• The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that it struck key sites linked to Iran’s nuclear weapons and missile programs, including inactive nuclear reactor in Arak, a nuclear weapons development site near Natanz, ballistic missile and air defence production facilities and radar systems and missile storage sites.
• Footage of blown-out windows, heavy black smoke and Israeli's running to shelter was posted by IDF.

• However, Iran claimed that the "direct and precise target" was Israeli military and intelligence base and not the health facility located in southern Israel. Clarifying its strike, it alleged that the hospital was “exposed only to the blast wave.”
• The state news agency IRNA issued a statement that read, “The main target of the attack was the Israeli Army Command and Intelligence Base (IDF C4I) and the Army Intelligence Camp in Gav-Yam Technology Park, located in the vicinity of the Soroka Hospital.”

• Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei accused the UN nuclear watchdog ‘International Atomic Energy Agency’ and its chief Rafael Grossi of being a partner to an "unjust war of aggression."

Esmaeil Baghaei reacted to Rafael Grossi's interview with CNN in which he confessed that there was no evidence of a systematic Iranian effort to develop nuclear weapons. In a post on X, Esmaeil Baghaei said, “This is too late, Mr. Grossi." He added, “Misleading narratives have dire consequences, Mr. Grossi, and demand accountability. You betrayed the non-proliferation regime.”

This comes a day after Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made his second public appearance since the Israeli strikes began and rejected US' calls for surrender. He issued a warning stating that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage to them." On Thursday, Putin said, “It's a delicate issue,” on Israel-Iran conflict, but added that “in my view, a solution could be found.”