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Israel’s Netanyahu Says Iran Will ‘Pay Heavy Price’ After Hospital Hit

Published

11 months ago

June 19, 2025

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran would “pay a heavy price” after a hospital in southern Israel was hit during an Iranian missile attack on Thursday, while his defence minister said Iran’s supreme leader would be “held accountable”.

“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,” Netanyahu said in a post on X.

The Soroka Hospital in the southern town of Beersheba was left in flames following an early morning barrage of “dozens” of Iranian ballistic missiles, with impacts also reported in two Israeli towns close to coastal hub Tel Aviv.

Speaking at the scene of the hospital, director Shlomi Kodesh said that a surgical building which had been evacuated in the past few days was hit, adding that 40 people had sustained injuries.

“Several wards were completely demolished and there is extensive damage across the entire hospital with damage to buildings, structures, windows, ceilings across the medical centre,” he told journalists.

Iran said it was targeting an Israeli military and intelligence base, not the health facility.

The latest escalation came on the seventh day of deadly exchanges between the two countries, with US President Donald Trump maintaining suspense about whether Washington will enter the war alongside Israel.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rejected Trump’s demand for an “unconditional surrender”, despite claims from the US leader that “Iran’s got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate”.

– ‘Never surrender’ –

Trump has left his intentions on joining the conflict deliberately ambiguous, saying Wednesday: “I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”

“The next week is going to be very big,” he added, without further details.

Any US involvement would be expected to involve the bombing of a crucial underground Iranian nuclear facility in Fordow, for which special bunker-busting bombs have been developed.

The White House said Trump would receive an intelligence briefing on Thursday, a US holiday. Top US diplomat Marco Rubio is set meet his British counterpart for talks expected to focus on the conflict.

“I have ideas as to what to do, but I haven’t made a final (decision),” Trump said. “I like to make the final decision one second before it’s due, because things change. Especially with war.”

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had told aides on Tuesday he had approved attack plans but was holding off to see if Iran would give up its nuclear programme.

Trump told reporters that Iranian officials “want to come to the White House”, a claim denied by Tehran.

The US president had favoured a diplomatic route to end Iran’s nuclear programme, seeking a deal to replace the 2015 agreement he tore up in his first term.

But since Israel unleashed the campaign against Iran last week, Trump has stood behind the key US ally.

– Nuclear sites –

On Thursday morning, Israel said it had carried out dozens of fresh raids on Iranian targets overnight, including the partially built Arak nuclear reactor and a nuclear facility in Natanz that has been struck previously.

The Israeli military said the Arak site on the outskirts of the village of Khondab in central Iran had been hit “to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development”.

There was also a “near-total national internet blackout” in Iran on Wednesday, a London-based watchdog said, with Iran’s Fars news agency confirming heavier internet restrictions after initial curbs imposed last week.

The military campaign has sparked calls for a return to diplomacy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that a deal to guarantee both Israel’s security and Iran’s desire for a civilian nuclear programme was possible.

“I believe it would be good for all of us together to look for ways to stop the fighting and seek ways for the participants in the conflict to find an agreement,” he told foreign journalists at a televised event.

He said Iran had not asked Russia for military help.

– Daily barrages –

An Israeli military official, who asked not to be named, said Wednesday that Iran had fired around 400 ballistic missiles and 1,000 drones since the conflict began on Friday.

About 20 missiles had struck civilian areas in Israel, the official added.

Iranian strikes have killed at least 24 people and injured hundreds since they began, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Monday.

Iran said Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.

Both countries have not issued an updated official toll since then.

Israel says its surprise air campaign is aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Iran had been enriching uranium to 60 percent — far above the 3.67-percent limit set by the 2015 nuclear death but still short of the 90-percent threshold needed for a nuclear warhead.

Israel has maintained ambiguity on its own atomic activities, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says it has 90 nuclear warheads.

Related Topics:Iran Iran-Israel war Israel Netanyahu

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Headline

‘Pioneer Of Cable TV News’: Key Facts About CNN Founder, Ted Turner

Published

5 days ago

May 9, 2026

Editor

Ted Turner, the media businessman who founded CNN died at the age of 87. He died peacefully on Wednesday, surrounded by family, according to Turner Enterprises.

Contents

Launched 24-hour news television

Built a media network

Expanded through sports

Recognition and influence

Philanthropy and global causes

Environmental efforts

Health and later years

Early career path

Leadership and legacy

Personal life

Exit from business

Family

Below are key facts about his life and impact:

Launched 24-hour news television

Turner founded CNN on June 1, 1980, introducing the first 24-hour news channel and changing how audiences follow global events.

Built a media network

He moved from billboards into broadcasting, turning an Atlanta TV station into a national superstation in 1976. His business later grew to include CNN International, TNT, Turner Classic Movies and Cartoon Network.

Expanded through sports

Turner invested in sports broadcasting and owned teams including the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Hawks, using television to reach wider audiences.

Recognition and influence

In 1991, he was named Time magazine’s Man of the Year for his role in shaping modern news coverage.

Philanthropy and global causes

He founded the United Nations Foundation and supported campaigns against nuclear weapons. In 1997, he pledged $1 billion to the United Nations.

Turner supported conservation work, including reintroducing bison in the United States, and backed environmental education through the “Captain Planet” cartoon.

Health and later years

In 2018, Turner revealed he had Lewy body dementia. He also recovered from a mild case of pneumonia in early 2025.

Early career path

He took over his father’s billboard company at 24 after his father’s death and later expanded into radio and television, despite limited experience in journalism.

“I worked until 7 o’clock, and when I got home the news was over,” he once said. “So I missed television news completely. And I figured there were lots of people like me.”

Leadership and legacy

“Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement,” Mark Thompson, Chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, said in a statement. “He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN. Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to recognize him and his impact on our lives and the world.”

Personal life

Turner married actress Jane Fonda in 1991, and they later divorced after 10 years, though they remained close.

“I would never love anyone like I love him,” she said. “But I just couldn’t keep moving in his world, along the surface for the rest of my life. I knew that I would get to the end of my life and regret not doing the things that I also needed to do for me.”

Exit from business

He sold his company to Time Warner in 1996 and later stepped away following its merger with AOL.

Reflecting on his life, Turner once said: “I lost Jane. I lost my job here. I lost my fortune, most of it. Got a billion or two left. You can get by on that if you economize.”

Family

He is survived by his five children, 14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Headline

Iran’s Nationwide Internet Shutdown Hits 70 Days

Published

5 days ago

May 9, 2026

Editor

NetBlocks, a monitoring group, has disclosed that an internet shutdown enforced by the Iranian regime has entered its 70th day, severing key access from swathes of the population under the shadow of war.

NetBlocks reported on Friday that the blackout has now surpassed 1,656 hours, marking more than two months since US-Israeli strikes pounded Tehran and escalated across the Middle East.

“Digital connectivity is vital in times of crisis,” NetBlocks said in a post on X. “Limiting service harms those most in need – people with disabilities, students, small businesses and the general public.”

According to CNN, Iran imposed a separate internet shutdown on the country’s 92 million people earlier this year, when it launched the most lethal crackdown on anti-government protesters since the Islamic Republic’s founding 47 years ago.

CNN further reports that the latest blackout has cut off another potential lifeline for Iranian residents faced with high unemployment and economic pressure exacerbated by the US-Israeli campaign.

(CNN)

Headline

Gas Prices In US Edge Down After Two Weeks Of Increases

Published

5 days ago

May 9, 2026

Editor

The cost of a gallon of regular gas in the United States (US) has edged down a little more than a penny to $4.55.

According to AAA’s readings, this marks the first decline in the average gas price after 15 straight days of increases.

The decline is minuscule compared to the large increases in gas prices over the last two weeks.

According to CNN, gasoline costs rose an average of nearly 4 cents a day during that period and had several daily increases of between 7 and 9 cents.

Also Read: Trump insists US-Iran ceasefire intact despite recent exchange of fire

CNN also reports that based on past gas spikes, it will likely take weeks for gas prices to get down below $4 a gallon.

The report, however, states that a previous two-week stretch of gas price declines only shaved 14 cents off the average price, taking the average price to $4.02, before the recent 15-day run of increases.

According to CNN, it could take months for the average price to fall below $3 per gallon, as it did before the war in Iran.

CNN further reports that only one state – Oklahoma – now has an average price of less than $4 a gallon, and its average stands at $3.98. California has the highest average price at $6.16.

(CNN)