Tehran will pay 'heavy price', warns Netanyahu after missiles hit hospital, cause severe damage

In a fresh barrage of missile attacks by Tehran on Thursday (June19), the main hospital in southern Israel has suffered “extensive damage”, said officials. The Soroka Hospital in Beersheba has urged patients not to come for treatment following the attack. Several people have been injured, though the exact number is not yet known. The hospital, meanwhile, is assessing the extent of damage and the number of people wounded.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned the strike and said Tehran would pay "a heavy price" for the attack.

Taking to X Netanyahu said, "This morning, Iran's terrorist dictators fired missiles at Soroka Hospital in Beer Sheva and at civilians in the centre of the country. We will make the tyrants in Tehran pay a heavy price," Netanyahu said in a post in Hebrew.

According to Israel's emergency services, missile attacks by Iran across the country on Thursday has injured 65 people, reported BBC. Around 42 people have received mild injuries, while 18 people were hurt on their way to bomb shelters.

Israel's deputy foreign minister Sharren Haskel has also hit out at Iran for attacking the hospital.

Calling the attack "deliberate" and "criminal", Haskel said, “Iran just hit Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva with a ballistic missile. Not a military base. A hospital. This is the main medical center for Israel's entire Negev region. Deliberate. Criminal. Civilian target. The world must speak out.”