Netanyahu: "Tehran will pay the full price" – war threatens to escalate

further

As the international news network reports, the Middle East conflict has reached a new escalation peak: Israel bombed several nuclear facilities in Iran on Thursday, while Iran in turn fired a missile at a hospital in southern Israel fired. The air war, which has been going on for over a week, has so far shown no signs of de-escalation.

After the attack on the Soroka hospital in the city of Be'er Sheva, in which 40 people were injured – including staff and patients – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the "tyrants in Tehran" would pay a "full price". Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that he would expand the attacks to strategic targets in Tehran in order to weaken the Iranian regime and eliminate potential threats against Israel.

🎯 Military strike against Iran's nuclear program

Israel reported attacks on the nuclear facilities in Natanz and Isfahan. Initially, there was also talk of an attack on the reactor in Bushehr, Iran's only active nuclear power plant – a statement that was later corrected. A reactor under construction near Arak is also said to have been the target of a nighttime air strike.

According to information from the IAEA (UN Nuclear Watchdog), a heavy-water-based research reactor near Arak was hit – but without radioactive material inside. The authority did not have any reports of damage to the actual heavy water production site.

☢️ Israel wants to eliminate "existential threat" – Trump remains vague

Netanyahu stressed that Israel's goal is to avert an "existential threat" from the Iranian regime by all means. If necessary, one does not want to rule out the overthrow of the leadership in Tehran.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump is unpredictable: While he spoke of a quick diplomatic solution on the one hand, he also hinted on social media that he wanted to "eliminate" Iran's supreme leader Khamenei. The next day, he demanded the unconditional surrender of Iran. He left open whether the US will intervene militarily.

🏥 Iranian missiles hit Israeli hospital and residential areas

According to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, military facilities near the hospital in Be'er Sheva were attacked. Israel firmly denied this account – there were no military targets there, the attack on the medical facility had been targeted.

In addition to the hospital, a residential building in Ramat Gan, a suburb of Tel Aviv, was also hit. A resident reported a deafening explosion that shook the entire building.

📵 Information blackout in Iran – population in fear

In Iran itself, the information situation is increasingly opaque:

Numerous residents of Tehran are fleeing the capital. Israel has even issued evacuation orders for entire neighborhoods.

A 33-year-old government employee in Tehran told Reuters that a building in his neighborhood had been destroyed – including children and women among the victims:
 "Is this Netanyahu's idea of freedom? Stay away from us."

👧 "I'm afraid that my mom will die"

A particularly harrowing case is Samira, 11 years old. Her family fled Tehran after a shopping mall near her home was hit. Now she lives with her grandparents in Urmia in the northwest of the country:
"I can't sleep at night. I'm afraid that Israel will hit our house and my mom will die," she said on the phone.

⚰️ After a

week of air war, Israel has paralyzed large parts of the Iranian military, damaged several nuclear facilities and caused hundreds of deaths in Iran. In turn, Iranian missiles have directly hit civilian targets in Israel for the first time in decades, killing at least two dozen people.

The conflict threatens to get out of control – a diplomatic solution is currently not in sight.








Author: Tom Weyermann, MF editorial team
Sources: Reuters