Iranian missile hits hospital in Israel as air war enters seventh day
- Last updated: June 19, 2025 | 11:31
An Iranian missile slammed into the main hospital in southern Israel early on Thursday, wounding people and causing "extensive damage," according to the medical facility. Israeli media aired footage of blown-out windows and heavy black smoke.
Another missile hit a high-rise building and several other residential buildings in at least two sites near Tel Aviv. At least 40 people were wounded in the attacks, according to Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service.
Israel, meanwhile, carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, in its latest attack on the country's sprawling nuclear programme, on the seventh day of a conflict that began with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting military sites, senior officers and nuclear scientists.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the strike on the hospital and vowed a response, saying: "We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran.”
Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel, though most have been shot down by Israel's multi-tiered air defenses, which detect incoming fire and shoot down missiles heading toward population centers and critical infrastructure. Israeli officials acknowledge it is imperfect.
The missile hit the Soroka Medical Center, which has over 1,000 beds and provides services to the approximately 1 million residents of Israel’s south.
Haim Bublil, a local police commander, told reporters that several people were lightly wounded in the strike. He said there was a fire in a six-story building that was hard to access, and that rescuers were still searching various buildings and moving patients to safer areas of the hospital.
A hospital statement said several parts of the medical center were damaged and that the emergency room was treating several minor injuries. The hospital was closed to all new patients except for life-threatening cases.
Many hospitals in Israel activated emergency plans in the past week, converting underground parking to hospital floors and move patients underground, especially those who are on ventilators or are difficult to move quickly.
Israel’s military said its fighter jets targeted the Arak facility and its reactor core seal to halt it from being used to produce plutonium.
Associated Press