Tel Aviv, June 19: An Iranian missile hit the main hospital in southern Israel early Thursday, wounding people and causing extensive damage but no serious injuries, the medical facility said. Israeli media aired footage of blown-out windows and heavy black smoke.
Other missiles hit a high-rise apartment building in Tel Aviv and other sites in central Israel. At least 240 people were wounded by the Iranian missiles, four of them seriously, according to Israel’s Health Ministry.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz blamed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said the military “has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist.”
Israel, meanwhile, carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, its latest attack on Iran’s sprawling nuclear programme. Iranian state television said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” and that the facility had been evacuated before the attack.
Israeli military says Iran used a missile with multiple warheads in its attack
The Israeli military said Thursday that Iran used a missile with multiple warheads in its attack, posing a new challenge to its defences.
Instead of having to track one warhead, missiles with multiple warheads can pose a more difficult challenge for air defence systems, like Israel’s Iron Dome.
There was no immediate independent analysis that could be made.
Russia voices concern about security at Iran’s Russia-built nuclear power plant
Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Russia is particularly concerned about security at the plant in Iran’s southern port of Bushehr and the Russian personnel there.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that over 200 Russian workers are involved in building two more nuclear reactors in Bushehr. “We agreed with the Israeli leadership that their security will be ensured,” he said.
Alexei Likhachev, the head of the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, told reporters that several dozen Russian workers had already been evacuated from Bushehr and others could follow suit quickly if necessary.
Likhachev warned that an Israeli strike on the Bushehr reactor could trigger a catastrophe comparable to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. He voiced hope that the Israeli leadership will “have sufficient understanding and common sense not to allow even an accidental hit.”
Iran has launched 450 missiles and 1,000 drones toward Israel so far
The vast majority of the drones have been launched from Iran, but a few have been launched from Iran’s proxies, including Iraq, according to the Israeli military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.
He added that Israel began its operation in western Iran before moving towards the capital of Tehran and the centre. The military is now starting to attack eastern Iran.
The official would not comment on whether or not the Americans are planning to target the Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant. “What Americans do or will not do is up to them, we have our plan and are operating according to it,” he said.
Gaza officials say 69 dead in past 24 hours
The Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday that hospitals had received 69 bodies and 221 wounded people in the last 24 hours.
It said 55,706 Palestinians have been killed and another 130,101 wounded since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, without saying how many were civilians or combatants.
The war began with Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack into Israel, when Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. They still hold 53 hostages, more than half of them believed to be dead.
Israel says it destroyed majority of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers
Israel said its airstrikes have destroyed around two-thirds of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers, according to an Israeli military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military regulations. The official said on Thursday that Israel estimates Iran still has over 100 missile launchers remaining active.
“We are hitting all the chain of production, from the military factory all the way to the launcher itself, we’re stopping all of the elements,” the official said. Israel estimates that before Friday, Iran had around 2,000 ballistic missiles.
The official would not comment on Israeli impact on Iran’s nuclear programme. “We said we’re going to damage severely the nuclear facilities, but we didn’t say we’re going to destroy it totally,” the official said. “We know our limits.” (AP)
