Tel Aviv: Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz on Sunday issued a stark warning, declaring that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist” after an Iranian missile strike hit a hospital near Tel Aviv.

Katz accused Khamenei of orchestrating a direct assault on civilians and pledged consequences. “The cowardly Iranian dictator sits in the depths of a fortified bunker and fires missiles at hospitals and residential buildings in Israel.

These are war crimes of the most serious kind — and Khamenei will be held accountable for his crimes,” he wrote on X.

He further indicated that Israeli forces would escalate operations aimed at dismantling Iran’s leadership structure.

“The Prime Minister and I have instructed the IDF to increase the intensity of attacks against strategic targets in Iran and against government targets in Tehran in order to remove threats to Israel and undermine the Ayatollah’s regime,” Katz added.

Iran claims hospital was not the intended target

In response to the strike, Iran’s state news agency IRNA stated that the intended target was not the hospital, but rather a nearby military facility.

According to the report, the missile strike was aimed at the Israeli Army Command and Intelligence Base (IDF C4I) and an intelligence camp located in the Gav-Yam Technology Park, close to Soroka Hospital.

The hospital, IRNA claimed, was only exposed to the resulting blast wave.

“The main target of the attack was the Israeli Army Command and Intelligence Base… located in the vicinity of the Soroka Hospital,” the report said.

Israeli rescue teams reported that at least 47 people were injured in the incident.

Israel intensifies strikes across Iran

Meanwhile, Israel has stepped up its military offensive, launching airstrikes that have reportedly eliminated several senior Iranian military figures, nuclear scientists, and key infrastructure.

Over 50 targets were reportedly hit in Tehran alone, including a centrifuge facility and workshops tied to Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme.

Iran rebuffs Trump’s surrender call

As tensions escalate, Iran pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s recent demand for “unconditional surrender.”

Speaking in a televised address, Ayatollah Khamenei issued a sharp rebuke and warned of the consequences of any US military involvement.

“Intelligent people who know Iran, the nation and the history of Iran, will never speak to this nation in the language of threats, because the Iranian nation cannot be surrendered,” Khamenei said. “The Americans should know that any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage.”