As the conflict between Israel and Iran reaches its eighth day, both nations traded intense missile and drone strikes on Friday. Israel targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities with airstrikes. Tehran responded by launching missiles equipped with cluster munitions, marking the initial documented use of these weapons in the current conflict, including an attack that hit an Israeli hospital. The exchange signifies a significant intensification in a week-long aerial conflict with no obvious indications of de-escalation or any diplomatic solution.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised that Iran’s leadership would face severe consequences for the hospital attack. He stated that Israel is ahead of its timeline in the military operation against Iran, surpassing earlier expectations.
Iranian strikes on Israeli Hospital
Missiles from Iran targeted a major hospital in southern Israel and impacted residential structures in Tel Aviv on Thursday, injuring 240 individuals and resulting in considerable destruction.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz accused Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stating that the military has been directed and understands that to accomplish all its objectives, this man must not ‘continue to exist’.
ALSO READ: ‘Iran won’t surrender, Irreparable Damage if US acts’: Khamenei issues warning
Israel attacks Iran’s Arak reactor
Israel, in the meantime, conducted assaults on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, marking its most recent offensive against Iran’s extensive nuclear initiative. Iranian state television reported that there was “absolutely no radiation threat” and stated that the site had been cleared prior to the assault.
The Israeli military reported that its air force targeted numerous locations in Iran, including Natanz and the heavy water nuclear facility, formerly known as Arak and now referred to as Khondab.
The military stated it aimed at “the core seal structure of the reactor, which is essential for plutonium manufacturing.”
Iranian media indicated that air defenses were engaged near the Khondab nuclear site, with two projectiles striking a location nearby.
US to decide whether to attack Iran in next 2 weeks
The White House states that President Donald Trump will determine within the next two weeks if he will attack Iran. Trump continues to believe there is a “substantial” possibility that talks can meet U.S. and Israeli requirements regarding Iran’s nuclear program.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary, relayed a statement from Trump: “Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.”
In the midst of rising tensions, around 40 US military planes have vanished from the runway at a significant American airbase in Qatar in the last two weeks, seemingly as a precautionary measure to protect US resources from possible Iranian attacks.
