Israel attacks Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor

On the seventh day of escalating conflict, Israel struck Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor after issuing a public warning. Iran reported no radiation threat as the site had been evacuated. Meanwhile, an Iranian missile hit Israel’s Soroka Medical Centre, causing extensive damage and injuries

Dubai: Israel attacked Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, Iranian state television said on Thursday. The report said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” and that the facility had been already evacuated before the attack.

Israel warned earlier on Thursday it would attack the facility and urged the public to flee the area.

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Meanwhile, Israel’s main southern hospital sustained a direct hit Thursday from an Iranian missile, with officials reporting “extensive damage” there. A spokesperson for the Soroka Medical Centre in Beer Sheba said the hospital suffered “extensive damage” in different areas and people were wounded in the attack.

The seventh day of conflict came a day after Iran’s supreme leader rejected US calls for surrender and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage to them”.

China will help its citizens evacuate from Israel The Chinese Embassy in Israel says it will organise group evacuations by bus from Israel starting on Friday. A notice posted on the embassy’s WeChat social media account said that Chinese citizens would be taken out through the Taba border crossing to Egypt. It asked them to register online and said they would be notified of the evacuation time.

People carrying Chinese, Hong Kong and Macao passports are eligible, the notice said.

Israel’s main hospital in south sustained direct hit from Iranian missile with extensive damage Israel’s main southern hospital sustained a direct hit on Thursday from an Iranian missile, with officials reporting “extensive damage” there.

Soroka Medical Centre is the main hospital in Israel’s south.

A spokesperson for the Soroka Medical Centre in Beer Sheba said the hospital suffered “extensive damage” in different areas and people were wounded in the attack. The hospital has requested people not come for treatment.

The hospital has over 1,000 beds and provides services to the approximately 1 million residents of Israel’s south, according to the hospital’s website.

Indonesia to evacuate its citizens from Iran as Israeli airstrikes intensify The Indonesian government on Thursday said it would evacuate its citizens from Iran as airstrikes by Israel intensified.

“Our citizens are at risk,” Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sugiono said in a video statement. “Over the past two days, Israel’s attacks have grown more intense, not only targeting the military, but also civilians.” He said about 386 Indonesians, mostly students, are residing in Iran, primarily in the city of Qom. His ministry, meanwhile, said earlier that about 194 Indonesians are currently in Israel, the majority of whom are student interns in the southern city of Rafah.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, on Tuesday issued a joint statement with 23 other countries, initiated by Egypt, to condemn Israel’s attack on Iran.

Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 639, rights group says Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 639 people and wounded 1,329 others, a human rights group said on Thursday.

The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists offered the figures, which covers the entirety of Iran. It said of those dead, it identified 263 civilians and 154 security force personnel being killed.

Human Rights Activists, which also provided detailed casualty figures during the 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, crosschecks local reports in the Islamic Republic against a network of sources it has developed in the country.

Iran has not been offering regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimised casualties in the past. Its last update, issued Monday, put the death toll at 224 people being killed and 1,277 others being wounded.

No US plans to be part of EU-Iran talks — for now A US official said on Wednesday there no plans for US involvement in nuclear talks set between senior European diplomats and Iran in Geneva, although that could change.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic communications, also noted that the Europeans have been wanting to play a role in the negotiations for months but have been held back by the US.

That position, the official said, may be changing as the hostilities intensify.