Key points
- Israel said several civilian areas, including a hospital, were hit by Iranian missile strikes on Thursday.
- Israel's military targeted a nuclear site near Iran's central city, Arak.
- United States President Donald Trump has refused to rule out the US joining Israel's campaign.
A hospital in southern Israel was hit during a barrage of "dozens" of Iranian missiles on Thursday, Israeli officials said, and Israel attacked multiple Iranian nuclear sites, as the conflict between the two countries nears its second week.
Israel's foreign ministry said a "direct hit" had been reported at the Soroka hospital in Beersheba.
The hospital's director told journalists at the scene that several wards had been demolished and there was damage across the hospital.
Israel's health ministry said several people sustained minor injuries, and that there was limited damage to the hospital's emergency room and other buildings, which did not impair the hospital's ability to operate.
Iran said it had been targeting an Israeli military and intelligence base, not the health facility.
The strike came four days after an Israeli missile strike damaged a hospital in Iran's western province of Kermanshah.
A spokesperson for Soroka hospital said some areas had experienced "extensive damage" after an Iranian strike. Source: AFP / John Wessels
Israel's Magen David Adom (MDA) 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".
Rescue workers and military personnel inspect the site of a direct hit from an Iranian missile strike in Ramat Gan, Israel. Source: AAP / AP / Oded Balilty
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz went further, saying Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could "no longer be allowed to exist".
He said he and Netanyahu had instructed the Israeli army to "increase the intensity of attacks" against targets in Iran.
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 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 deliver another blow to the Middle East, where the spillover effects of the Gaza war have undermined stability.
Israeli military hits Iran nuclear sites
An Israeli military spokesperson said on Thursday that the military had struck nuclear sites in Bushehr, Isfahan, and Natanz, and continued to target additional facilities.
Bushehr is Iran's only operating nuclear power plant. It uses Russian fuel that Russia then takes back when it is spent to reduce proliferation risk.
The Israeli military also said it targeted the Khondab nuclear site near Iran's central city Arak overnight, including a partially-built heavy-water research reactor.
Iranian media reported two projectiles hitting an area near the facility, which had been evacuated, and there were no reports of radiation threats.
Smoke rising from Tehran after an Israeli attack. At least 200 people have reportedly been killed by Israeli strikes in the past week. Source: AAP / AP / Vahid Salemi
It had no information that a separate plant there which makes heavy water had been hit.
Iran has always denied planning to build an atomic weapon and says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Israel is widely presumed to have a nuclear arsenal of its own, though it does not confirm or deny this.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei criticised UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi on Thursday, accusing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of being a partner to an "unjust war of aggression" initiated by Israel.
In a post on X, Baghaei responded to an interview with CNN in which Grossi said there was no evidence of a systematic Iranian effort to develop nuclear weapons.
"This is too late, Mr Grossi," Baghaei wrote, adding that an IAEA resolution last week declaring Iran in breach of its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty had been used as a pretext for Israel's strikes.
Since Israel launched airstrikes against Iran on Friday, Iran has fired around 400 missiles at Israel.
Some 40 have pierced air defences, killing 24 people, all of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities.
The Iranian missile salvos 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. Some US-based groups have put the figure much higher.
Iranian foreign minister to meet with European counterparts
Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday that he would head to Geneva to attend talks on his country's nuclear program with counterparts from key European powers France, Germany and Britain and the EU's top diplomat.
"We will meet with the European delegation in Geneva on Friday," he said in a statement carried by state news agency IRNA.
Trump declines to say if US will join Israel's campaign
Earlier on Thursday, US President Donald Trump told reporters he would not say whether he has decided to order a US strike on Iran, a move Iranian officials again warned would be greeted with stiff retaliation if it happens.
US President Donald Trump said Iran had sought talks with his administration, but dismissed those efforts as "too late". Source: Getty / Tasos Katopodis
Trump later 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.
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 war.
Senior 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.
Khamenei rebuked Trump's earlier call for Iran to surrender in a recorded speech played on television.
"Any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage," he said. "The Iranian nation will not surrender."
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 the Reuters news agency 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 program?"
