Iran says it targets Israeli bases, accuses Israel of targeting hospitals

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Iran’s military says it has targeted Israeli military bases and the domestic security service Shin Bet as the United States-Israeli war on Iran and Tehran’s retaliation across the region approach their third week.

“The Palmachim and Ovda airbases of the Zionist regime as well as the headquarters of Shin Bet were targeted by drones from the Islamic Republic of Iran’s army,” the military said in a statement on Thursday carried by state television. Israel has yet to comment on the Iranian military’s claims.

Israel said it identified more missiles launched towards the country from Iran. Missile alert alarms sounded in Jerusalem, and explosions were heard as the Israeli military sought to intercept the incoming fire.

Overnight, missile launches from Iran and Hezbollah also sent Israelis scurrying to shelters in multiple other areas, including Tel Aviv and the northern border area with Lebanon.

Israel said on Thursday that it had launched another “wide-scale” round of air strikes across Iran.

At least 13 people in Israel have been killed, and nearly 2,000 injured since the war began on February 28, according to Israeli officials.

Now in its 13th day, the war shows no sign of abating despite US President Donald Trump’s insistence that US strikes on Iran had already practically defeated it.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran remains committed to regional peace but insists the war can end only if Iran’s “legitimate rights” are recognised.

In a post on X, Pezeshkian said he had spoken with leaders of Russia and Pakistan and reiterated Iran’s position that the conflict was “ignited by the Zionist regime and the US”.

He said any resolution must include recognition of Iran’s rights, payment of reparations and international guarantees against future attacks.

There has been no response yet from Washington.

Pezeshkian posted his remarks as diplomatic efforts intensify to contain the conflict with Russia maintaining close contact with Iranian leaders and calling for a halt to hostilities.

Hospitals and health facilities across Iran have suffered damage as US-Israeli strikes intensify, according to Iranian Deputy Health Minister Ali Jafarian.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Tehran, Jafarian said medical teams are coping with a growing number of casualties, many of them civilians.

“Unfortunately, there are a lot of … victims who are killed at the scene because [the US and Israel] are carpet bombing … civilian infrastructure,” he said, adding that at least 1,395 people have been killed.

People are trapped under collapsed buildings, he said, adding that strikes on urban areas have intensified in recent days.

“We have 31 major clinical facilities and hospitals damaged. Twelve of those hospitals are inactive now.”

Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said targets are not just military sites or police stations but also civilian facilities, such as schools and hospitals. He said oil depots and energy and water infrastructure around Tehran also have been targeted.

“We have reports about electricity shortages in some of the cities, such as Karaj, but also there are serious concerns right now when it comes to public health and the air that people are breathing in the Iranian capital and cities in the vicinity of the capital,” he added.

Analysts said Israel’s tactics in Iran mirror its conduct during its genocidal war in Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023. They accused Israel of dismantling entire systems by hitting schools, public infrastructure and state institutions.

A spokesman for the Iranian Red Crescent Society on Wednesday said nearly 20,000 civilian buildings, including at least 16,000 residential units, have been affected since the US-Israel war on Iran began.

In the meantime, Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on ⁠X on Thursday that ⁠any US aggression against Iranian ⁠islands in ⁠the Gulf will prompt Tehran to “abandon ‌all restraint”.

Several ⁠Iranian islands, including ⁠Kharg, are ⁠critical energy export ⁠terminals. Iranian ‌military bases are located on others.