JERUSALEM: Israel and Iran exchanged fire again on Thursday, the seventh day of the war between the longtime enemies.
Here are the latest developments:
Hospital strike
A hospital in southern Israel was hit as Iran fired a barrage of “dozens” of missiles, officials said, with impacts also reported in two Israeli towns close to commercial hub Tel Aviv.
The Soroka Hospital in Beersheba was left in flames following the early morning barrage.
Hospital director Shlomi Kodesh said 40 people had sustained injuries.
“Several wards were completely demolished and there is extensive damage across the entire hospital with damage to buildings, structures, windows, ceilings across the medical centre.”
Iran said the main target of its missile attack was not the hospital but a nearby military and intelligence base.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tehran would pay a “heavy price”.
Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said at least 47 people were wounded in Iran’s latest strikes, and another 18 injured while rushing to shelters.
Israel threatens Khamenei
Israel’s defence minister said Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist” after Thursday’s casualties at the Soroka Hospital.
“Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed -- he personally gives the order to fire on hospitals,“ Israel Katz told reporters. “Such a man can no longer be allowed to exist.”
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States was aware of Khamenei’s location but would not kill him “for now”.
Iraq’s top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani warned that any targeting of Iran’s “supreme religious and political leadership” would have “dire consequences on the region”.
Trump on strikes, talks
Trump said Wednesday he was considering whether to join Israel’s strikes, and that Iran had reached out seeking negotiations on ending the conflict.
“I may do it, I may not do it,“ Trump told reporters. “I can tell you this, that Iran’s got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate.”
Trump said Tehran had even suggested sending officials to the White House for talks, an assertion Iranian officials denied.
Asked if it was too late for negotiations, Trump said: “Nothing is too late.”
The Wall Street Journal reported Trump has told aides he has approved attack plans but is holding off to see if Iran will give up its nuclear programme.
He is due to receive an intelligence briefing on Thursday, a US holiday, the White House said.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi warned the United States against intervening. “Our military decision makers have all the necessary options on the table,“ he said.
Strikes on nuclear sites
The Israeli army said it struck an “inactive nuclear reactor” in Arak during its overnight raids on Iran that also saw the uranium enrichment facility at Natanz targeted again.
A statement said “the nuclear reactor in the area of Arak in Iran was targeted, including the structure of the reactor’s core seal, which is a key component in plutonium production”.
It said the strike on the site was carried out “to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development”.
“Additionally, the (Israeli air force) struck a nuclear weapons development site in the area of Natanz,“ the statement added, saying that around 40 Israeli airforce jets had taken part in the overnight raids that saw “dozens” of sites hit.
Diplomacy
The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany and the European Union’s top diplomat are set to meet their Iranian counterpart for nuclear talks in Geneva on Friday, European diplomats said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed he would attend. “We will meet with the European delegation in Geneva on Friday,“ he said in a statement carried by state news agency IRNA.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping strongly condemned Israel’s attacks on Iran in a phone call, the Kremlin said.
Xi said an Iran-Israel ceasefire is “top priority”, Chinese state media said.
