• Source:JND
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Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, issued a stark warning on Thursday, declaring that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “can no longer be allowed to exist.” The statement follows a direct ballistic missile strike on Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, southern Israel, which left at least one person critically injured and dozens more wounded. Katz accused Khamenei of orchestrating the attack and warned of intensified Israeli strikes on Iranian targets in retaliation.

Addressing reporters in Holon, near Tel Aviv, Katz said Iran’s top leader personally gave the order to attack civilian infrastructure. “The cowardly Iranian dictator sits deep within a fortified bunker and deliberately launches attacks toward hospitals and residential buildings in Israel,” he said. “These are war crimes of the worst kind, and Khamenei will be held accountable.”

Katz added that both he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to escalate military operations. “We’ve directed the IDF to intensify strikes against strategic and government-related targets in Iran, especially in Tehran, to eliminate the threat and destabilise the ayatollah regime.”

Hospital Attack Triggers Outrage

The missile strike on Soroka Hospital has sparked national outrage. The hospital, one of the largest in Israel’s south, was placed under emergency lockdown, with no public entry allowed. Reports indicate a 60-year-old man remains in critical condition following the explosion, and over 40 others have been treated for injuries.

Eli Cohen, Israel’s Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, condemned the attack, calling it a deliberate war crime. “The terror regime in Tehran committed another war crime today, launching a missile at an Israeli hospital,” Cohen said in a post on X. “They deliberately target civilians… The cowardly regime in Iran will pay a heavy price for this crime.”

Amid the escalating conflict, reports from Washington revealed that former U.S. President Donald Trump had previously vetoed an Israeli plan to assassinate Khamenei. Though Trump denied any active plot, he acknowledged that such action was not “on the table for now.”