Did Iran Really Target a Hospital, Hitting Children's Ward?

Tel Aviv, June 20 (NationPress) During a visit to the Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Iran for executing a ballistic missile attack on the facility, resulting in serious injuries to numerous patients, medical staff, and doctors.

Netanyahu criticized the strike as a flagrant assault on civilians, stating that while Israel is conducting targeted operations against Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities, Iran has chosen to strike a hospital housing a children’s ward.

“I am present at Soroka Hospital in Be'er-Sheva, accompanied by the Minister of Health, Deputy Minister Almog Cohen, a South resident, and the director of Soroka Hospital. The contrast is stark. We are executing precise strikes on nuclear and missile program targets, while they are targeting a hospital where individuals are unable to escape,” the Israeli PM’s office stated on Thursday.

“Not far from here is a ward for children and infants. This exemplifies the difference between a democracy acting lawfully to defend itself and those who seek to annihilate us all. They aim to eliminate every single one of us. This emphasizes everything,” the statement continued.

In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar sharply criticized Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, who described the missile strike on Soroka as an attack on “Israeli Military Command, Control and Intelligence Headquarters.”

“Araghchi, you are lying! I was just at Soroka Hospital with numerous international journalists who witnessed the devastating aftermath of your regime's missile strike on a civilian hospital that serves Jews, Muslims, and Christians. No AI deception or fake maps can alter the truth. Your barbarism is evident to the world,” Sa’ar declared in a post on X.

In a social media message, Araghchi claimed, “Today, our formidable Armed Forces accurately targeted an Israeli Military Command, Control & Intelligence HQ along with another significant target. The explosion caused minor damage to a small section of the nearby, largely evacuated Soroka Military Hospital.”

He alleged that the hospital mainly treats Israeli soldiers “involved in the genocide in Gaza, just 25 miles away, where Israel has devastated or harmed 94 percent of Palestinian hospitals.”

Following the missile attack on the hospital, Netanyahu pledged a strong retaliation against what he termed the “terrorist tyrants” in Tehran.

“This morning, Iran's terrorist tyrants launched missiles at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba and at civilian areas in central Israel. We will hold the tyrants in Tehran accountable for their actions,” Netanyahu stated in a post on X after the incident.