Israel vows to ‘exact full price from Tehran tyrants,’ calling hospital strike a war crime

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday vowed to exact a heavy price from the “tyrants in Tehran” and Israel accused Iran of committing a “war crime” as a missile scored a direct hit on Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, the main hospital in Israel’s southern region.

The hit on Soroka came as Iran fired a barrage of some 30 missiles at southern and central Israel, causing heavy damage and wounding dozens of people, six of them seriously.

“Iran’s terrorist tyrants launched missiles at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba and at a civilian population in the center of the country,” Netanyahu wrote on X. “We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran,” he vowed.

Speaking outside the hospital on Thursday afternoon, Netanyahu did not rule out a strike on Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. “No one is immune,” he said. “All the options are open.”

Other politicians accused Tehran of perpetrating “war crimes.”

Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed Khamenei would answer for the attack.

“The cowardly Iranian dictator sits deep within a fortified bunker and deliberately launches attacks toward hospitals and residential buildings in Israel,” Katz said.

“These are war crimes of the worst kind, and Khamenei will be held accountable for his crimes,” he warned.

Katz said he and Netanyahu had “instructed the IDF to intensify strikes against strategic targets in Iran and government-related targets in Tehran, in order to eliminate threats to the State of Israel and destabilize the ayatollah regime.”

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also joined in the condemnation.

“The Iranian regime deliberately targets civilians… is committing war crimes,” and “has no red lines,” Sa’ar wrote in a post on X, alongside a video showing damage at the hospital.

President Isaac Herzog highlighted how Soroka is a beacon of coexistence for Israelis and Palestinians, adding that vulnerable civilians were targeted in the barrage.

“A baby in intensive care. A mother by their bedside. A doctor rushing between beds. An elderly resident in a nursing home. These were some of the targets of Iran’s missile attacks on Israeli civilians this morning,” Herzog wrote on social media.

“Soroka Hospital, located in Beersheba, is one of Israel’s finest — serving the entire Negev region, caring for Israelis of all faiths and our neighbors, the Palestinians who come especially to be treated there. Its devoted staff — Jews and Arabs — work side by side in extraordinary harmony, united by the mission to heal,” he wrote.

“In moments like these, we are reminded of what’s truly at stake, and the values we are defending,” the president concluded.

“The missile fired toward Soroka Medical Center is an act of terror and crosses a red line,” Health Minister Uriel Buso said.

“It is a war crime by the Iranian regime, deliberately targeting innocent civilians and medical teams dedicated to saving lives. The Health Ministry was prepared and thanks to the immediate actions we took, a major disaster was averted,” he added.

“I urge the public: Please continue to follow Home Front Command instructions. It saves lives.”

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said that Iran’s willingness to target a hospital showed that it would have no qualms about using nuclear weapons against Israel.

“If the Nazis who launch missiles at hospitals, at the elderly and at children had atomic weapons, they would fire them in a heartbeat without even thinking. This is the most just campaign that Israel has ever embarked on in history,” declared Ben Gvir, adding that Israelis are “all united to remove this threat once and for all.”

Opposition leaders also condemned the strike and said it provided further justification for Israel’s ongoing attacks on Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.

In an English-language post, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz wrote that “while Israel targets Iran’s nuclear and missile programs that threaten not only us but the whole world, Iran targets Israeli hospitals and children.”

“There is no moral equivalence, and Israel will not waver in eliminating the capabilities of those who gleefully declare ‘Death to Israel, Death to America,'” he said.

While Israel targets Iran’s nuclear and missile programs that threaten not only us but the whole world – Iran targets Israeli hospitals and children.

While Israel targets with precision military & IRGC personnel – Iran targets Israeli civilians.

There is no moral equivalence,… pic.twitter.com/xU1Itqb528

— בני גנץ – Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) June 19, 2025

“Imagine what Iran would do with nuclear weapons,” Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman said. “We must continue until the nuclear program is completely eliminated, the Iranian regime is overthrown, and its missile stockpile is destroyed.”

This has been a “difficult morning for the State of Israel,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid posted on X, noting that “even a just war comes with a heavy price.”

“This is the people of Israel’s finest hour. Our nation is strong. Our people are acting responsibly. Continue to follow Home Front Command instructions. They save lives,” he wrote.

Following the attack, Beersheba Mayor Ruvik Danilovich called on the public to remain “alert and vigilant.”

“We will get through this, God willing. We are strong, everyone has their role… This is liable to happen again, so we must be alert and vigilant,” he told Kan news.

“They want to hurt us,” he said, adding that Iran “has declared for years [its intention] to destroy the State of Israel.”

Stressing the importance of sheltering when instructed to do so, Danilovich said there is a “direct line” connecting Israel’s military campaign in Iran to the “disciplined citizens” who enter protected spaces during missile barrages.

“Everyone has their role: the disciplined citizen, security forces, rescue and emergency services — and Soroka Medical Center, which does truly amazing work,” he said.

MK Tibi appears to equate Iran’s attack with IDF op in Gaza

MK Ahmad Tibi, who leads the Knesset’s Arab Ta’al party, appeared to equate the missile strike with Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip.

“Attacking a hospital is a crime that must be condemned, always and everywhere,” the veteran Israeli politician tweeted.

“We also condemned the attack on hospitals in Gaza. Our hearts go out to the medical teams in Soroka and the injured. Do not harm civilians. Do not harm medical teams. Enough of the wars.”

The Hamas terror group has used hospitals in Gaza for military purposes, using them for command centers and to hold hostages, the IDF says.

In April, the military said it targeted a Hamas command center that was housed in Gaza’s Al-Ahli hospital, which had been “used by the terrorists to plan and execute terrorist attacks against IDF forces and citizens of the State of Israel.”

The army confirmed last week that Hamas leader Muhammed Sinwar had been killed in a May 13 airstrike as he hid in a tunnel under the European Hospital in Khan Younis.

The 8-meter- (26-foot-)deep tunnel where he and other Hamas leaders had been hiding was part of a massive subterranean network. The airstrikes hit areas of the tunnel outside of the hospital complex, according to the IDF, and the hospital continued to operate after the strikes.

Israeli hostages were likely held in the tunnel as well at some point, an officer said.

Israel says its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program that began Friday is necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.

Iran has retaliated by launching over 400 missiles and around 1,000 drones at Israel. So far, 24 people have been killed in Israel and more than 500 wounded.