Iranian missiles have caused serious damage at four sites in central and southern Israel, including at the Soroka hospital.
IRNA, the Islamic Republic News Agency, said that the “main target” of the missile attack “was the large [Israeli army] Command and Intelligence (IDF C4I) headquarters and the military intelligence camp in the Gav-Yam Technology Park.”
It said that this facility is located next to Soroka hospital in Be’er Sheva.
IRNA claimed that the hospital only suffered minor damage from the shockwave resulting from the missile strike.“The military infrastructure was a precise and direct target,” it said.
Israeli Health Minister, Uriel Buso asserted that Iran has crossed a red line by targeting the Soroka hospital.
He labeled it “a war crime committed by the Iranian regime.”
Meanwhile, Israeli fighter jets were reported to have bombed Iran’s capital Tehran and the city of Karaj, as well as a heavy-water reactor at the Arak Nuclear Complex in northwest Iran.
The Israeli military earlier ordered people near Arak and Khondab to flee their homes, saying their lives were “at risk” as they were targeting Iranian military infrastructure in the area.
Iranian media announced that an area near the heavy-water research reactor in Khondab, part of Iran’s nuclear programme, was hit by Israel.
Officials announced the facility was evacuated prior to the attack and there is no radiation risk.
The research reactor was partially built and previously known as Arak, with Tehran informing the UN nuclear watchdog that it plans to operate the facility next year.
According to a news agency, Iran had agreed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to redesign the Arak facility to relieve proliferation concerns.
Heavy water helps cool nuclear reactors, but it produces plutonium as a byproduct that can potentially be used in nuclear weapons.
Iran has said its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes, and Britain had previously been helping the Iranian government to redesign the Arak reactor to limit the amount of plutonium it produces.
As part of negotiations around the 2015 deal, Iran agreed to sell off its heavy water to Western countries.
Even the US purchased some 32 tonnes of heavy water for more than $8m in one deal.
Israel’s air strikes have already targeted Iran’s nuclear site at Natanz, centrifuge workshops around Tehran and a nuclear site in Isfahan.
The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has urged Israel not to strike Iranian nuclear sites.
Israel Urged To Halt Attacks On Sites Not Linked To Iran’s Nuclear Activities
According to the Elysee, French President, Emmanuel Macron urged Israel to end strikes on targets in Iran not linked to nuclear activities or ballistic missiles.
He voiced concern over the current escalation, with Israeli strikes increasingly hitting targets not linked to Iran’s nuclear or ballistic programme, and a mounting number of civilian victims in Iran and Israel.
The French leader said it was “necessary to urgently end these military operations, which pose significant threats to regional security.”
French President Emmanuel Macron’s office says Paris is planning, along with European partners, to suggest a negotiated solution to end the conflict between Iran and Israel.
It added that Macron ordered Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot to draw up in the coming days an initiative with close European partners that would propose a demanding negotiated settlement to put an end to the conflict, without giving details on the nature of the plan.
The Elysee added that Macron also urged the French Foreign Ministry to take measures to help French citizens leave Israel or Iran if they wished to do so.
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