Separate Iranian strikes also hit a high-rise apartment building in Tel Aviv and other sites in central Israel. Authorities in Israel said at least 40 people were wounded. (AP video shot by: Alon Bernstein)
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 U.S. would join Israel in airstrikes seeking to destroy Tehran's nuclear facilities.
An Iranian missile slammed into the main hospital in southern Israel early Thursday, causing “extensive damage” but no serious injuries, according to the medical facility. Israeli media aired footage of blown-out windows and heavy black smoke.
Other missiles 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.
Black smoke rose from the Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba as emergency teams evacuated patients.
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.
An Iranian missile slammed into the main hospital in southern Israel early Thursday, wounding people and causing “extensive damage,” according to a spokesperson. Israeli media aired footage of blown-out windows and heavy black smoke.
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.
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. 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.
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.
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