Netanyahu: We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran * IDF hits Iran’s Arak reactor, nuclear weapons development site, dozens of other targets’ * US said readying for possible attack
The Times of Israel is liveblogging Thursday’s events as they happen.
Hezbollah warns assassination of Iran’s supreme leader would have ‘disastrous consequences’
Hezbollah has released a statement expressing support for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei following threats by Israeli and US leaders that he could be killed.
The statement declares that “threats to assassinate [Khamenei] are foolish and reckless, and will have disastrous consequences… Merely uttering them is an offense to hundreds of millions of believers and those connected to Islam, and it is utterly reprehensible. Today, we are more determined and united around him.”
Hezbollah has not joined the fighting against Israel since Jerusalem began striking inside Iran on Friday. In a statement following the first Israeli strikes, the Lebanese terror group condemned the attack. But it indicated to the Lebanese government that it would not get involved.
IDF says 2nd Hezbollah commander killed in drone strike overnight
Another Hezbollah commander was killed in a drone strike in southern Lebanon overnight, the IDF announces.
The strike in the Nabatieh area killed Mohammad Ahmad Khreiss, who the IDF says was the commander of Hezbollah’s anti-tank unit in the Shebaa area.
“During the war, the terrorist advanced numerous attacks against the State of Israel,” including an anti-tank missile attack on Mount Dov on April 26, 2024, which killed Sharif Sawaed, an IDF civilian contractor.
“In addition, the terrorist continued to advance terror activity in southern Lebanon in a way that violated the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the military adds.
Another Hezbollah commander was killed in a separate drone strike announced earlier.
Alerts activated in some areas on Home Front Command app in apparent malfunction
Alerts were activated in some areas on the Home Front Command’s app a short while ago, in what appears to be a malfunction.
The IDF says it is investigating.
Flight bringing stranded Israelis from Cyprus briefly diverted as Iranian missiles rained down, then lands safely
Channel 12 reports that an El Al flight from Cyprus bringing home Israelis who had been stranded abroad since the start of the conflict with Iran was forced to pull away from its planned landing at Ben Gurion Airport earlier this morning amid the Iranian missile barrage.
The flight circled in the air for some 30 minutes until authorities confirmed it was safe to land, then touched down without incident.
Israel’s airspace has been largely closed since Friday amid the war. In recent days Israeli airlines have begun repatriation flights for the many thousands of Israelis stuck abroad.
Iranian official warns US against direct involvement in conflict: ‘All necessary military options on the table’
Iran’s deputy foreign minister warns against any direct US involvement in the conflict between Israel and Iran, saying Iran has “all the necessary options on the table,” in comments reported by Iranian state media.
“If the US wants to actively intervene in support of Israel, Iran will have no other option but to use its tools to teach aggressors a lesson and defend itself… our military decision-makers have all necessary options on the table,” Kazem Gharibabadi says, according to state media.
“Our recommendation to the US is to at least stand by if they do not wish to stop Israel’s aggression,” he says.
Far-right MK snipes at Gantz, Eisenkot: ‘Not sure if PM would have attacked Iran if they were still in government’
Knesset National Security Committee head MK Zvika Fogel, a member of the far right Otzma Yehudit party, launches an attack on the centrist National Unity party, arguing that if they were in the government Israel may not have attacked Iran’s nuclear program.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a “brave decision” to attack Iran, he tells Haredi radio station Kol Barama.
“October 7 was a trigger. We reached a point where there was no choice. There was an opportunity and ability here, with the backing he received from the government. I’m not sure, if Gantz and Eisenkot were in the government, that he would have made this decision,” he says.
National Unity chief MK Benny Gantz and his number two, MK Gadi Eisenkot, both former IDF chiefs of staff, joined the coalition after October 7. They later quit the government over sharp differences with the prime minister regarding the prosecution of the war in Gaza.
Beersheba mayor: This is liable to happen again, we must be vigilant
Following Iran’s direct strike on a Beersheba hospital, Mayor Ruvik Danilovich calls on the public to remain “alert and vigilant.”
“We will get through this, God willing. We are strong, everyone has their role… This is liable to happen again, so we must be alert and vigilant,” he tells Kan news.
“They want to hurt us,” he says, adding that Iran “has declared for years [its intention] to destroy the State of Israel.”
Stressing the importance of sheltering when necessary, Danilovich says there is a “direct line” connecting Israel’s military campaign in Iran and the “disciplined citizens” who enter protected spaces during missile barrages.
“Everyone has their role: the disciplined citizen, security forces, rescue and emergency services — and Soroka Medical Center, which does truly amazing work,” he says.
Sa’ar: Iran deliberately targeting civilians and committing war crimes
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar joins Israeli leaders in condemning Iran’s ballistic missile strike on Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center this morning, accusing Tehran of committing war crimes and operating with “no red lines.”
“The Iranian regime deliberately targets civilians… is committing war crimes,” and “has no red lines,” writes Sa’ar in a post on X, alongside a video showing damage at the hospital.
https://twitter.com/gidonsaar/status/1935580136075579797?s=46
Education minister posts photo of kindergarten yard hit in Iranian barrage
Education Minister Yoav Kisch tweets a photograph of what he says is the yard of a shuttered kindergarten hit during this morning’s Iranian barrage and pledges not to end distance learning until classes can be held safely.
“The education system will return to face-to-face learning only when the situation is safe and allows it. I will not compromise on the safety of the children,” Kisch writes.
A spokesman for Kisch tells The Times of Israel that the kindergarten is located in Ramat Gan.
Defense Minister Katz: ‘Cowardly’ Khamenei will be held accountable for his war crimes
Defense Minister Israel Katz says Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei will “be held accountable” for his “war crimes” after a ballistic missile struck Soroka Hospital in southern Israel.
“The cowardly Iranian dictator sits deep within a fortified bunker and deliberately launches attacks toward hospitals and residential buildings in Israel,” Katz says.
“These are war crimes of the worst kind, and Khamenei will be held accountable for his crimes,” he warns.
Katz says he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have “instructed the IDF to intensify strikes against strategic targets in Iran and government-related targets in Tehran, in order to eliminate threats to the State of Israel and destabilize the ayatollah regime.”
‘Imagine what they’d do with nukes’: Politicians react to missile attacks on hospital, cities
Israeli politicians slam the Iranian government as “Nazis” and an “evil regime,” arguing that this morning’s strikes on Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba and other civilian targets demonstrate why Israel needs to take out Tehran’s nuclear program.
“If the Nazis who launch missiles at hospitals, at the elderly and at children had atomic weapons, they would fire them in a heartbeat without even thinking. This is the most just campaign that Israel has ever embarked on in history,” declares National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, adding that Israelis are “all united to remove this threat once and for all.”
Culture Minister Miki Zohar tweets in English alongside a photo of the damage to the hospital: “The evil Iranian regime has crossed every moral line. Only the scum of the earth fires missiles at hospitalized children and elderly people in their sick beds. Let the whole world know: this is a cruel terrorist regime that must be uprooted, for the security of Israel and the entire free world.”
In another English-language post, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz writes that “while Israel targets Iran’s nuclear and missile programs that threaten not only us but the whole world, Iran targets Israeli hospitals and children.”
“There is no moral equivalence, and Israel will not waver in eliminating the capabilities of those who gleefully declare ‘Death to Israel, Death to America,’” he says.
“Imagine what Iran would do with nuclear weapons,” says Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman. “We must continue until the nuclear program is completely eliminated, the Iranian regime is overthrown, and its missile stockpile is destroyed.”
This has been a “difficult morning for the State of Israel,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid tweets, noting that “even a just war comes with a heavy price.”
“This is the people of Israel’s finest hour. Our nation is strong. Our people are acting responsibly. Continue to follow Home Front Command instructions. They save lives,” he writes.
Medical association chief: ‘World should look at Beersheba hospital to understand what a war crime really looks like’
Israel Medical Association chairman Prof. Zion Hagay condemns the Iranian missile strike on a Beersheba hospital, calling it a war crime.
“The eyes of the whole world should be turned this morning to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba to understand what a war crime really looks like,” Hagay says.
He calls on the international medical community to strongly condemn the Iran strike, saying that “while Israel targets security objectives, the Iranians deliberately shoot at population centers to harm as many civilians as possible.”
“It is only because of the hospital’s preparedness that a much greater disaster was averted,” he says.
Soroka chief: Widespread damage to hospital; all patients and staff were in shelters
Soroka Medical Center’s director general Prof. Shlomi Kodesh speaks to the press about the missile strike this morning.
“A missile hit the old surgical ward building at Soroka. It’s a relatively old building that had been evacuated in recent days,” he says.
“There is widespread damage to other buildings at the hospital. All patients and all staff were in shelters. The several injured we have are lightly hurt, mostly from the blast shockwave,” he adds.
Kodesh says staff are now working to map out damage and assess which departments can operate and which cannot.
“We call on the public not to come to the hospital” beyond life-saving need, he says, adding that some current patients will be moved to other hospitals.
Iraq’s top Shiite cleric warns any targeting of Iran’s leadership could spark ‘widespread chaos’
Iraq’s top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani warns against targeting Iran’s leadership, and says that the Iran-Israel war could plunge the whole region into chaos.
Any targeting of Iran’s top leadership might spark “widespread chaos that would exacerbate the suffering of its people and severely harm everyone’s interests.”
