Israel, meanwhile, struck Iran's heavy water reactor, part of the country's nuclear program, which its government insists is meant for peaceful purposes only. Israel says Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons.
President Donald Trump has been making increasingly sharp warnings about the possibility of the U.S. joining in attacks against Iran, while Iran's leader has warned the United States would suffer “irreparable damage” if it does so.
The strikes began last Friday, with Israel targeting Iranian military and nuclear sites, killing several top military officials and nuclear scientists. Iran retaliated by firing hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel, some of which have penetrated the country's vaunted multi-tiered air defense system.
The region has been on edge for the past two years as Israel seeks to annihilate the Hamas militant group, an Iranian ally, in the Gaza Strip, where war still rages after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.
Here's what to know about the conflict between Israel and Iran:
Missile hits hospital
An Iranian missile hit Soroka Medical Center, in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, early Thursday, striking an old surgery building that had been evacuated in recent days. The hospital, the largest health-care facility in southern Israel, has over 1,000 beds and serves around 1 million residents of the area.
Several people were lightly wounded in the strike, local authorities said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack, vowing to “exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz blamed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for the strike, and said the military “has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist.”
U.S. officials said this week that Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei. Trump later said there were no plans to kill him, "at least not for now."
Many Israeli hospitals have activated emergency plans in the past week, moving patients underground to be treated in parking areas converted into hospital floors. Israel also boasts a fortified, subterranean blood bank.
On Monday, Iranian authorities said at least 224 people had been killed and more than 1,200 wounded in Israeli strikes. No updated figures have been made available, but a Washington-based Iranian human rights group said at least 639 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed and more than 1,300 wounded. Retaliatory Iranian strikes on Israel have killed 24 people and wounded hundreds.
Heavy water reactor targeted
Israeli fighter jets targeted Iran's Arak heavy water reactor, located about 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of Tehran, on Thursday. Heavy water is used as a coolant for certain types of reactors, with plutonium -- which can be used to make an atomic bomb -- produced as a byproduct.
“The strike targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development,” the Israeli military said.
Iranian state television said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” and that the facility had been evacuated before the attack.
The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed the heavy water research reactor was hit, adding that “it was not operational and contained no nuclear material, so no radiological effects.” The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said it had no information on whether the heavy water plant next to the reactor had been hit.
Israel views Iran's nuclear program as an existential threat, and has said its airstrikes are necessary to prevent Iran from building an atomic weapon. U.S. intelligence agencies and the IAEA have repeatedly said Iran was not pursuing a nuclear weapon when Israel unleashed its airstrikes.
But the U.N. agency has questioned Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium and last week censured the country for failing to comply with inspectors. Iran enriches uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. It is the only non-nuclear-weapon state to enrich at that level.
Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East but does not acknowledge having such weapons.
'I’m not looking to fight'
Trump has made increasingly pointed warnings about the possibility of U.S. military involvement in the conflict. On Wednesday, he said he didn't want to carry out a U.S. strike on Iran but suggested he was ready to act if necessary.
“I’m not looking to fight,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “But if it’s a choice between fighting and having a nuclear weapon, you have to do what you have to do.”
He has been noncommittal on what his plans might be.
“I may do it, I may not do it,” Trump said of a potential U.S. strike. “I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do. Nothing is finished until it is finished. The next week is going to be very big — maybe less than a week.”
Khamenei has rejected U.S. calls for surrender, saying that “the Iranian nation is not one to surrender.”
“Americans should know that any military involvement by the U.S. will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage to them,” he said in a video statement Wednesday.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP