Trump privately approved attack plans for Iran pending final order, WSJ reports

US President Donald Trump told senior aides late on Tuesday that he approved attack plans for Iran but has withheld a final order to see if Tehran would abandon its nuclear program, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing three people familiar with the deliberations.

Israel struck a key Iranian nuclear site on Thursday and Iranian missiles hit an Israeli hospital, as President Donald Trump kept the world guessing about whether the US would join Israel in airstrikes seeking to destroy Tehran's nuclear facilities.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to press on with Israel's biggest ever attack on Iran until his arch enemy's nuclear programme is destroyed, said Tehran's "tyrants" would pay the "full price".

His Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military had been instructed to intensify strikes on strategic-related targets in Tehran in order to eliminate the threat to Israel and destabilise the "Ayatollah regime".

Netanyahu has said that Israel's military attacks could topple the regime in Iran, and Israel would do whatever is necessary to remove the "existential threat" posed by Tehran.

A week of Israeli air and missile strikes against its major rival has wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military command, damaged its nuclear capabilities and killed hundreds of people, while Iranian retaliatory strikes have killed at least two dozen civilians in Israel.

The Israeli military said it targeted the Khondab nuclear reactor in Iran's central city Arak overnight, including a partially-built heavy-water research reactor. Heavy-water reactors produce plutonium, which, like enriched uranium, can be used to make the core of an atom bomb.

Iranian media reported two projectiles hitting an area near the facility. There were no reports of radiation threats.

Israel's military said it also struck a site in the area of Natanz, which it said contains components and specialised equipment used to advance nuclear weapons development.

Iran has always denied planning to build an atomic weapon and says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes. Its Atomic Energy Organisation said Israel had attacked its nuclear sites "in renewed violation of international law" and that there were no casualties because the areas had been evacuated.

On Thursday morning, several Iranian missiles struck populated areas in Israel, including a hospital in the southern part of the country, according to an Israeli military official.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it was targeting Israeli military and intelligence headquarters near Soroka medical centre in the city of Beersheba in the south of the country.

Soroka reported it had sustained damage.

The week of Iranian missile salvoes mark the first time in decades of shadow war and proxy conflict that a significant number of projectiles fired from Iran have penetrated defences, killing Israelis in their homes.

Trails of missiles and interception efforts were visible in the skies over Tel Aviv, with explosions heard as incoming projectiles were intercepted. Israeli media also reported direct hits in central Israel.

Emergency services said five people had been seriously injured in the attacks and dozens of others hurt in three separate locations. People were still trapped in a building in a south Tel Aviv neighbourhood, they added.

Around a dozen mostly European and African embassies and diplomatic missions are located just a few hundred metres from the strike on Tel Aviv.

Buildings were extensively damaged in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv, a key commercial hub home to high-rise towers, and emergency workers helping residents, including children.

The blast caused significant damage to nearby residential buildings and shattered windows across the area.

"It's very scary," said Yaniv, 34, who lives just a few hundred meters away. He said he heard a deafening explosion when the missile hit, shaking his apartment tower.

The worst-ever conflict between the two regional powers has raised fears that it will draw in world powers and further destabilize the Middle East. Oil prices surged after Israel said it attacked Iranian nuclear sites overnight, as investors grapple with fears of a broader conflict in the Middle East that could disrupt crude supplies.

Agencies