Israel Defence Forces Spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin stated on Thursday that Iran has expressed its desire to destroy the state of Israel.
Defrin said that in addition to attacking a hospital in Beer Sheva, Iran launched over 450 ballistic missiles and hundreds of UAVs over the past six days.
“Early this morning, an Iranian ballistic missile directly hit the Soroka Hospital in Beer Sheva. This hospital serves over one million Israelis, including Bedouins, Jews, Christians, and Arabs alike,” he said.
“Iran targeting civilian centres with ballistic missiles is no surprise for us. They have been openly declaring their desire to destroy the State of Israel for decades now. These aren`t just words. Over the past six days, Iran has launched over 450 ballistic missiles and hundreds of UAVs,” he said.
He further stated that these reasons justify why Iran should not be allowed to procure nuclear weapons.
“This is exactly why we cannot and we will not allow this regime to obtain nuclear weapons or expand its missile arsenal. And so we continue our operations, striking Iranian nuclear weapons facilities, missile launchers, and military sites,” he said.
Defrin said that Iran targeted civilians while Israel targeted an existential threat.
“Iran targets civilians. We target an existential threat that endangers global security. And we will prevail,” he said.
The Israel Embassy in India said that Israel will do all that is necessary to protect its people.
“The Iranian regime attacked Soroka Hospital in Beersheba with a ballistic missile – this is a major medical centre. We will not sit quietly. We will continue to do whatever is necessary to protect our people.”
The Israeli Air Force carried out a wave of strikes in western Iran a short while ago, targeting Iranian ballistic missile infrastructure and Iranian soldiers, The Times of Israel reported.
Some 20 IAF fighter jets were involved in the strikes.
Additionally, an IAF drone hit trucks carrying ballistic missiles as they arrived at a launch site, the military added, as per The Times of Israel.
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever