Israel is vowing to intensify its attacks on “strategic targets” in Iran after an Iranian ballistic missile struck the largest hospital in southern Israel on Thursday, in addition to other sites.
Dr. Shlomi Kodesh, director of the Soroka Medical Center that was hit, said about 40 patients suffered minor injuries in the attack but the surgical wing that was most damaged had been evacuated days ago.
Iranian state media said its target was a military site next to the hospital, not Soroka itself.
Still, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge.
"This morning, Iran's terrorist tyrants launched missiles at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba and at a civilian population in the center of the country," he said on X. "We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran."
Several hits were identified as a result of the missile barrage—one of them hitting the largest hospital in southern Israel. https://t.co/G29iJqGyiH
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 19, 2025
⚠️RAW FOOTAGE:
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 19, 2025
This hospital was one of Iran’s targets this morning. pic.twitter.com/urqFxa6P2e
Direct hit on a hospital in southern Israel. pic.twitter.com/4s1lQMAAX2
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) June 19, 2025
Defense Minister Israel Katz called Iran's missile strike a "war crime" and said Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei will be "held accountable."
"The cowardly Iranian dictator sits in the depths of the fortified bunker and fires aimed shots at hospitals and residential buildings in Israel," he said on X. "These are war crimes of the most serious kind - and Khamenei will be held accountable for his crimes.The Prime Minister and I have instructed the IDF to increase the intensity of attacks against strategic targets in Iran and against government targets in Tehran in order to remove threats to the State of Israel and undermine the ayatollahs' regime."
Katz was even more direct as he spoke with reporters while visiting the site of Thursday's missile strike in Holon, calling Khamenei "the modern Hitler.”
Katz was then asked whether taking out the supreme leader was among Israel's goals.
“The objectives of the war are to remove the nuclear threat, eliminate sources of destruction, and neutralize missile threats," he said, reports the Times of Israel. "Within this framework, the IDF has been instructed and knows that to achieve all the objectives, without question this man should no longer continue to exist.”
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