Israel's defense minister openly threatened to assassinate Iran's supreme leader on Thursday after the latest missile barrage from Iran damaged a major hospital and hit several residential buildings near Tel Aviv.
Defence minister Israel Katz said that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "can no longer be allowed to exist" in the aftermath of the misslie attack.
"Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed. He personally gives the order to fire on hospitals. He considers the destruction of the state of Israel to be a goal," Katz told journalists in Holon near Tel Aviv.
"The military has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals; this man absolutely should not continue to exist," he said.
In the aftermath of the strikes, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz blamed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said
At least 40 people were wounded in the attacks, according to Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service.
Black smoke rose from the Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba as emergency teams evacuated patients. There were no serious injuries in the strike on the hospital.
Earlier this week, US officials said that President Donald Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei. Trump later said there were no plans to kill him “at least not for now.”
Two doctors told The Associated Press that the missile struck almost immediately after air raid sirens went off, causing a loud explosion that could be heard from a safe room. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The hospital said the main impact was on an old surgery building that had been evacuated in recent days. After the strike, the medical facility was closed to all patients except for life-threatening cases, it said. Soroka has over 1,000 beds and provides services to around 1 million residents of Israel’s south.
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.”
Israel, meanwhile, carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, in its latest attack on the country's sprawling nuclear program, on the seventh day of a conflict that began with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting military sites, senior officers and nuclear scientists.
A Washington-based Iranian human rights group said at least 639 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 1,300 wounded. In retaliation, Iran has fired some 400 missiles and hundreds of drones, killing at least 24 people in Israel and wounding hundreds.
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.
Haim Bublil, a local police commander, told reporters that several people were lightly wounded in the strike.
Many hospitals in Israel activated emergency plans in the past week, converting underground parking to hospital floors and moving patients underground, especially those who are on ventilators or are difficult to move quickly. Israel also boasts a fortified, subterranean blood bank that kicked into action after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack ignited the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
(With inputs from AP and AFP)
