‘The cowardly Iranian dictator…’ Israel vows retaliation after hospital attack, blames Khamenei for ‘war crimes’

Speaking after the strikes, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said both he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed the IDF to "intensify strikes against strategic targets in Iran and government sites in Tehran." (Image: Reuters)

Israel has vowed to intensify military operations against Iran after a wave of Iranian ballistic missiles struck Israeli cities on Thursday, including a direct hit on one of the country’s largest hospitals.

An Iranian missile struck Soroka Medical Center in the southern Israeli city of Be’er Sheva, causing extensive destruction, according to Israeli authorities. The hospital, a major facility serving over a million residents and the primary evacuation center for war casualties from southern Israel, sustained heavy damage across multiple sections.

Videos circulating online show significant structural damage and debris around the hospital premises, with patients and medical staff seen evacuating amidst smoke and chaos.

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“This was a deliberate, criminal attack on a civilian target,” said Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel, sharing footage of the aftermath. President Isaac Herzog condemned the strike, stating that “vulnerable hospital patients were targets of Iran’s missile attacks on Israeli civilians.”

Iran’s state news agency IRNA claimed the hospital was located near a military command site that was the “main target” of the strike, a claim rejected by Israeli officials as a cover for what they termed a blatant war crime.

In retaliation, Israel’s military confirmed conducting airstrikes on dozens of sites across Iran overnight, including a direct hit on the Arak heavy-water nuclear reactor. Military officials stated that jets targeted the reactor’s core seal, a critical component for plutonium production.

The Arak heavy water reactor, seen in this February satellite image. Maxar Technologies/AP/File

Additional strikes were carried out on a “nuclear weapons development site” in Natanz and on several factories producing components for ballistic missiles, the Israeli military said.

Speaking after the strikes, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said both he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed the IDF to "intensify strikes against strategic targets in Iran and government sites in Tehran."

Katz directly blamed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for authorizing attacks on Israeli civilians: “The cowardly Iranian dictator sits deep inside his fortified bunker and launches deliberate attacks at hospitals and residential buildings in Israel,” Katz said. “These are the gravest forms of war crimes and Khamenei will be held accountable.”