The Israel-Iran conflict took a fresh turn on Thursday with Tel Aviv calling for the ‘elimination’ of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Defense Minister Israel Katz dubbed it a ‘war goal’ after the latest wave of Iranian missiles struck a hospital and wounded at least 40 people. Tehran has claimed that struck the command and intelligence center of the Israeli army “in a pinpoint strike near a hospital”. The assertion also came days after US President Donald Trump claimed that they knew exactly where Khamenei was hiding.
“A dictator like Khamenei, who heads a country like Iran and has made the destruction of Israel his mission, cannot continue to exist. The IDF has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist,” Katz said on Thursday.
He had previously warned that the Iranian leader could meet a fate ‘similar to Iraq’s Saddam Hussein’. US officials also indicated earlier this week that Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei. The POTUS later said there were no plans to kill him “at least not for now.”
We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Missile hits main hospital in southern Israel
Two doctors told The Associated Press that the missile struck almost immediately after air raid sirens went off, causing a loud explosion that could be heard from a safe room. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media. The hospital said the main impact was on an old surgery building that had been evacuated in recent days. After the strike, the medical facility was closed to all patients except for life-threatening cases, it said. Soroka has over 1,000 beds and provides services to around 1 million residents of Israel’s south. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the strike on the hospital and vowed a response, saying: “We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran.”