JERUSALEM - A hospital in southern Israel and two towns near Tel Aviv were struck after a barrage of Iranian missiles on the morning of June 19, with rescuers reporting at least 47 people injured in the latest attacks.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran would “pay a heavy price” after the strike on Soroka Hospital in Beersheba in southern Israel, while Defence Minister Israel Katz said the army had been ordered to “intensify” strikes on Iran.

“This morning, Iran’s terrorist dictators fired missiles at Soroka Hospital... and at civilians in the centre of the country. We will make the tyrants in Tehran pay a heavy price,” Mr Netanyahu said in a post on X.

A spokesperson for the hospital reported “damage to the hospital and extensive damage in various areas. We are currently assessing the damage, including injuries. We ask the public not to come to the hospital at this time”.

AFP footage showed smoke billowing from the complex, which serves populations in southern Israel, but is also known to treat soldiers wounded in Gaza.

Buildings were also damaged in the central towns of Ramat Gan and Holon, close to coastal hub Tel Aviv, which has been repeatedly targeted by Iranian missiles since war broke out between the countries on June 13.

Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) rescue service said that at least 47 people were injured in Iran’s latest missile strikes, with 18 more injured “while running to shelter”.

Three people are in serious condition, and two are in moderate condition, an MDA spokesperson said in a statement.

“An additional 42 people sustained minor injuries from shrapnel and blast trauma, and 18 civilians were injured while running to shelter,” the spokesperson added.

Defence Minister Katz meanwhile said in a statement: “These are some of the most serious war crimes – and (Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei will be held accountable for his actions.”

“The Prime Minister and I have ordered the (military) to intensify strikes against strategic targets in Iran and against the power infrastructure in Tehran, in order to eliminate the threats to the State of Israel and to shake the ayatollahs’ regime,” he added.

Sirens sounded across Israel early on June 19 as the military said it detected incoming missiles from Iran and AFP journalists reported hearing loud blasts in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

A military official added that “dozens of ballistic missiles” had been launched at Israel.

The explosions heard by AFP journalists in Jerusalem around 7.10am, when air defences activated, were the loudest since the conflict with Iran began on June 13.

Sirens sounded twice in Tel Aviv in the morning, while an all-clear message was given around half an hour after the first one.

The attacks came as US President Donald Trump kept the world guessing about whether the US would join Israel in air strikes seeking to destroy Tehran’s nuclear facilities.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Mr Trump declined to say if he had made any decision on whether to join Israel’s campaign.

“I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” he said.

Mr Trump in later remarks said Iranian officials wanted to come to Washington for a meeting and that “we may do that”. But he added: “It’s a little late” for such talks.

The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain plan to hold nuclear talks with their Iranian counterpart on June 20 in Geneva to urge Iran to return to the negotiating table, a German diplomatic source told Reuters.

Mr Trump has veered from proposing a swift diplomatic end to the war to suggesting the United States might join it.

A source familiar with internal discussions said Mr Trump and his team were considering options that included joining Israel in strikes against Iranian nuclear installations.

But the prospect of a US strike against Iran has exposed divisions in the coalition of supporters that brought Mr Trump to power, with some of his base urging him not to get the country involved in a new Middle East war.

Senior US Senate Democrats urged Mr Trump to prioritise diplomacy and seek a binding agreement to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons, while expressing concern about his administration’s approach.

“We are alarmed by the Trump administration’s failure to provide answers to fundamental questions. By law, the president must consult Congress and seek authorisation if he is considering taking the country to war,” they said in a statement.

“He owes Congress and the American people a strategy for US engagement in the region.” AFP, REUTERS