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As Israel and Iran exchange fire for the seventh day in a row, a new wave of Iranian missiles have struck several locations across Israel, causing a hospital to be damaged, and Israel has attacked the country’s heavy water nuclear reactor Arak.

After an Iranian missile struck the southern Israeli city of Beersheba on Thursday, rescue operations were underway. In the attack, Iran claimed to be aiming for a military base.

According to reports, the Iranian missiles were fired on at least six other locations, including in Holon and Ramat Gan, two of Tel Aviv’s districts. At least 50 people were hurt, according to emergency personnel, including four who were in critical condition.

According to the Israeli army, its fighter jets bombed Iran’s Arak heavy water nuclear reactor and numerous other sites.

The partially finished reactor was originally known as Arak and is now known as Khondab.

The military specifically targeted “the core seal’s structure,” a crucial component of plutonium production, in a statement from the military.

Two projectiles struck a nearby area of the Khondab nuclear facility, according to Iranian media reports.

Before the strikes, there was no risk of radiation or casualties, according to officials who spoke to Iranian state TV. No damage was made known.

The two nations exchanged fire for a seventh day following Israel’s major attack on Iranian military installations and nuclear sites, which resulted in the deaths of senior military officials and top nuclear scientists.

Iran launched airstrikes against Israel in response to that attack, and the conflict has since expanded to include civilian targets, including homes and oil and gas facilities.

Israel’s multiple-tiered air defenses have fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Iran, but the majority of them have been shot down by the country’s multiple missile defenses.

a significant hospital

The emergency room at the hospital, which has more than 1, 000 beds and serves the roughly 1 million residents of southern Israel, said in a statement that there was “extensive damage” in several areas of the facility and that several minor injuries were being treated. Except for potentially fatal cases, all new patients were confined to the hospital.

In Israel, many hospitals have started emergency plans in the past week, switching hospital floors from underground parking and moving patients underground, especially those who are on ventilators or moving quickly.

Israeli Army Radio quoted Israeli Health Minister Uriel Buso as saying, “This is a war crime committed by the Iranian regime,” in reference to the Soroka attack. The Iranian government would “pay a high price” for the attack, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The large headquarters of the Israeli army’s Command and Intelligence (IDF C4I) and the military intelligence base in the Gav-Yam Technology Park were the “main target” of the Beersheba attack, according to the Iranian news agency IRNA. According to the statement, the facility is next to the Soroka Medical Center, and it claims the missile strike’s shockwave only caused minor damage to the hospital.

Information about places like the military and intelligence facilities is not made available to the general public because of strict military censorship in Israel. A hospital’s building, which Israeli media reported, sustained significant damage in a building that was referred to as “sensitive.”

Israeli authorities were attempting to send a “message that the Iranians target hospitals,” according to Israeli political commentator Ori Goldberg, according to Al Jazeera.

Israelis, of course, also target hospitals. Because Israel places its military headquarters in the middle of residential neighborhoods and towns, he continued, adding from Tel Aviv, that there are actually very sensitive installations and headquarters very close to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Iranian state television reported the Arak site attack, claiming that there was “no radiation danger whatsoever.” The facility has been evacuated, according to an Iranian state television reporter who spoke live from the nearby town of Khondab. No harm has been done to civilian areas surrounding the reactor.

Israel had earlier issued a warning to the facility’s owners on Thursday morning and urged the public to leave. Without going into further detail, the Israeli military claimed that its most recent airstrikes also targeted Tehran and other Iranian regions.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei rejected American demands for a surrender and warned that any US military involvement in the conflict would “inflict irreparable harm to them” (iraqi law) one day prior to the strikes.

Donald Trump made a remarkable revelation in his first address to a joint session of Congress on March 4th, 2018, after taking office as US president for the second time.

He referred to the deadly Abbey Gate bombing at Kabul airport in August 2021 – which occurred as thousands of Afghans tried to flee following the Taliban takeover – and said the alleged perpetrator had been apprehended.

Pakistan, the nation he attributed the arrest to. “I want to thank especially the government of Pakistan for helping arrest this monster”, Trump declared.

For the first time in a US president’s tenure hosting a military chief from Pakistan who is not also the country’s head of state, Trump hosted Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir for lunch on Wednesday at the White House. Munir is on a five-day trip to the US.

This is a significant change for a nation that Trump had previously been accused of providing the US with “nothing but lies and deceit” and safe havens for terrorists and which his immediate predecessor Joe Biden referred to as “one of the most dangerous nations.”

It’s a reset that experts say has been in the making for weeks, under Trump’s second administration, and that was solidified by the brief but intense military confrontation between India and Pakistan in May, during which the US tried to mediate a ceasefire.

Some analysts warn that Trump’s changing relationship should be seen as a result of his personal style as opposed to institutional policy.

“We are dealing with an administration which changes its tune by the hour. The Middle East Institute (MEI) senior fellow Marvin Weinbaum told Al Jazeera, “There is no process here.”

“One minute the US has no interest, and the next minute priorities change rapidly. You don’t associate mercurial and personal administration with traditional US foreign policy, he continued.

However, others point out that even the optics of Trump hosting Munir are significant.

Raza Ahmad Rumi, a distinguished lecturer at City University of New York (CUNY), said, “Trump’s lunch invitation to Pakistan’s army chief isn’t just protocol-breaking; it’s protocol-redefining.” “It signals, quite visibly, that Pakistan is not just on Washington’s radar, it’s in the inner circle, at least for now”.

Resets are made in the wake of regional crises.

The meeting between Trump and Munir came amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, where Israel has been conducting strikes inside Iranian cities since June 13. Israel has been the target of Iranian missile attacks in response.

The Israeli offensive – targeting Iranian generals, missile bases, nuclear facilities and scientists – has killed more than 200 people. About 20 people have been killed in the past six days as a result of Iran’s missile and drone attacks on Israel.

The Benjamin Netanyahu-led Israeli government has been urging the US to join the offensive against Iran, which shares a 900-kilometre-long (559-mile) border with Pakistan.

After meeting with Munir on Wednesday, Trump addressed the media in the Oval Office, saying that Pakistanis “know Iran very well, better than most people,” but that they are “not happy.”

According to Trump, however, the main reason for meeting Munir was to thank him for his role in defusing the May conflict between Pakistan and India, a confrontation that brought the region, home to more than 1.6 billion people, to the brink of nuclear war.

“I wanted to thank him for avoiding the war]with India, so I had him here.” And I want to thank PM]Narendra] Modi as well, who just left a few days ago. Trump, who is credited with having a close relationship with Indian leader Modi, said, “We’re working on a trade deal with India and Pakistan.”

“These two very smart people decided not to keep going with a war that could have been a nuclear war. Two significant nuclear powers, Pakistan and India. I was honoured to meet him today”, he added, referring to Munir.

26 Indian civilians were killed in an April attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, which had sparked the crisis. India blamed Pakistan, which denied the charge and called for a “credible, independent, transparent” investigation.

India launched strikes on Pakistani and Pakistan-administered Kashmir territories on May 7. Pakistan responded via its air force, claiming to have downed at least six Indian jets. India confirmed losses, but they did not provide specific figures.

The conflict escalated as both sides exchanged drones for three days and eventually launched missiles at military targets on May 10. A ceasefire was only achieved after a lot of backchannel diplomacy, especially one involving the US, was engaged in.

Trump reiterated his role on Wednesday. I ended Pakistan’s and India’s conflict. This man]Munir] was extremely influential in stopping it from the Pakistan side, Modi from the India side, and others”, he said.

India claims the ceasefire was the result of bilateral dialogue, despite Pakistan’s acknowledgment of US involvement. Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri stated on Tuesday that Indian PM Modi had spoken to Trump by phone to underscore New Delhi’s view that there was no US-led mediation between India and Pakistan.

Arif Ansar, chief strategist at Washington-based advisory firm PoliTact, said Pakistan’s military performance during the confrontation prompted Trump’s engagement.

According to Ansar, “it demonstrated that the country can outmanoeuvre a much bigger adversary” despite its political and economic difficulties. “This has led President Trump to engage with Pakistan’s traditional power centres based on core strategic interests”.

Opportunity to assert relevance

That engagement has a long history.

Pakistan’s relationship with the US dates back to 1947, when it merged with Washington in the Cold War. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Pakistan supported US objectives there, and the two collaborated closely to support the mujahideen that eventually forced Moscow to pull out its troops.

Pakistan later backed the US “war on terror” that followed 9/11.

However, over the years, many within the US strategic community also started questioning Pakistan’s credibility as a reliable security partner, especially after 9/11 architect Osama bin Laden was found in Abbottabad, close to Rawalpindi, home to Pakistan’s military headquarters in 2011.

The strategic partnership has slowed even further since the Taliban’s resurrected in August 2021. Pakistan has increasingly turned towards China for economic, military and technological support.

However, according to Weinbaum, Pakistan has received a level of respect that the previous Biden administration did not.

Trump wanted “counterterrorism assistance”, Weinbaum said – and seemingly got it.

General Michael E. Kurilla, the US Central Command’s (CENTCOM) chief, detailed how that cooperation led to the capture of the alleged Abbey Gate bomber on June 10.

“They]Pakistan] are in an active counterterrorism fight right now, and they have been a phenomenal partner in the counterterrorism world”, Kurilla said, in a testimony before the House Armed Services Committee in Washington, DC.

This progress, including the arrest of the Abbey Gate bombing suspect, was made possible thanks to direct coordination with Pakistan’s army chief, according to Kurilla, who also oversees the US military’s Middle East operations, including Iran. “Field Marshal Asim Munir called me to tell me they had captured one of the Daesh-K]ISKP or ISIS-K] individuals”, he said.

According to Weinbaum, Pakistan has added “more goodies,” such as a trade deal without tariffs, an offer for rare earth minerals, and crypto, as the cherry on top of the bilateral relationship. Weinbaum previously served as an analyst for Pakistan and Afghanistan in the US State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research.

Pakistan’s assets are currently being offered to foreign investors, including the US and Saudi Arabia, and include rare earth minerals that are important for sectors like defense, robotics, and electronics.

Pakistan has also recently formed a crypto council and held talks with US officials to attract investment and partnerships.

Rumi described the Munir-Trump meeting as “historical.”

“The US wants Pakistan’s help in de-risking regional volatility without offering much in return. Munir believes that this is an opportunity to reaffirm relevance and possibly negotiate maneuvering space at home.

Transactional ties and democratic costs

Pakistan’s ties to the US have historically been largely transactional, particularly in terms of security. US aid and investment often followed Pakistan’s alignment with US strategic goals, helping build its infrastructure and military.

However, there has also been distrust in the relationship, with US administrations accusing Pakistan of being a victim of double-dealing while Pakistan claims that the US has abandoned its efforts to support them despite their best efforts.

Whether this latest engagement proves to be another fleeting phase or a more durable alignment remains to be seen, say experts.

The US has historically engaged Pakistan when it was necessary and retreated when necessary, according to Rumi, a professor from New York.

“Unless this relationship is institutionalised, beyond the security lens with which it is viewed, it’s another tactical romance. It may fade once strategic objectives are met or regimes change, he said, like previous quirks did.

Ansar added that Pakistan again stands on the brink of a major strategic choice amid the global power shift.

“Much depends on whether it leans toward China or the US,” he said. That decision is also tied to the evolving Israel-Palestine conflict and the role of Iran”, he said.

However, Weinbaum, a former State Department official, claimed that “nothing in this administration is permanent.”

“If Pakistan does play some role in the Iran crisis, they have could have more substantial meaning to these ties. However, it is necessary to be aware that this administration hasn’t yet resolved anything. It can change on a dime, at any hour”, he said.

Behind the scenes power

The military remains Pakistan’s most powerful institution, exerting enormous influence over politics and society.

The current government, elected in a contentious election last year, is widely regarded as second to Munir’s military leadership and has been in power for more than three decades.

This is in line with historical precedent. Pakistan’s first military ruler, Field Marshal Ayub Khan, had close ties with the US in the 1960s. Strong US ties were maintained by later military rulers, including General Pervez Musharraf in the 1980s and General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s. All three were hosted by US presidents at the White House – but only after they became heads of state.

According to experts, Munir, who is only the second Pakistani to hold the position of field marshal in the country after Khan, reinforces the notion that Pakistan’s true power stillresides with the military despite the existence of a civilian government.

Still, CUNY’s Rumi said it was important not to “confuse symbolism with transformation”.

Anyone who supports democratic consolidation should be concerned that “this]Trump-Munir] meeting validates the enduring military-to-military track in US-Pakistan [ties].” If this is the” reset, “it’s one where khaki once again trumps ballot”, he cautioned, referring to the colour of the military’s uniform.

According to Ansar from PoliTact, the meeting negatively affects Pakistan’s civil-military balance because it revealed who continues to be the “real power bearer” in the country.

“In the long run, these dealings in the past have led to tremendous political, economic and security-related repercussions for the nation]Pakistan]”, he said.

Questions arise over nuclear double standards and the credibility of the global system as Iran bombs Iranian nuclear sites as a result of IAEA inspection.

Israel, an undeclared nuclear power, is still subject to international treaty obligations, while Iran accuses the IAEA of bias and complicity.

Rafael Grossi, the director general of the IAEA, responds to allegations, addresses concerns about a nuclear arms race, and warns of the consequences if diplomatic efforts are unsuccessful. The non-proliferation regime is it crumbling, or what?

Israel’s hit on Iran’s main uranium enrichment site at Natanz on Friday destroyed the above-ground part of the facility and is believed to have damaged its underground uranium enrichment capabilities.

Although Israel also fired missiles at Fordow, home to another facility where nuclear fuel can be purified, that base is believed to still be fully functional.

This week, speculation has mounted over whether the US would supply Israel with the weapons necessary to strike inside the Fordow plant, which is deep underground and much harder to access than Natanz.

So what is known about the Fordow plant, and can it be destroyed?

What is the Fordow nuclear facility?

Fordow was originally built as a military facility for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. It is located 30km (18.5 miles) northeast of the city of Qom in northwestern Iran and is reportedly hundreds of metres inside a mountain.

Iran disclosed its conversion to a nuclear site in a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the global nuclear watchdog, on September 21, 2009, after learning that Western intelligence services already knew about it.

Days later, the United States, Britain and France confirmed publicly that they were indeed aware of a secret fuel enrichment plant at Fordow. Conclusive intelligence that Iran was trying to install 3,000 centrifuges at the site was gathered in early 2009. By September, Fordow’s conversion was nearing completion.

Fordow is the only Iranian facility at which IAEA inspectors have found particles of uranium purified to near weapons-grade purity. That happened during an unannounced inspection in 2023.

The site is designed to hold up to 2,976 spinning centrifuges, the IAEA said, a fraction of the capacity for the approximately 50,000 in Natanz, Iran’s main nuclear site, which Israel struck the day it began its air strikes on Iran.

Has Fordow been damaged in the recent Israeli strikes?

Iran did strike Fordow.

But on Monday, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said: “No damage has been seen at the site of the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant or at the Khondab heavy water reactor, which is under construction.”

What is known about nuclear development at Fordow?

After the presence of the Fordow site became public in 2009, the US and Iran began their first direct talks in 30 years.

“The goal for these negotiations is to reach a mutually agreed long-term comprehensive solution that would ensure Iran’s nuclear programme will be exclusively peaceful,” the IAEA said.

While Iran submitted design information on Fordow to the IAEA in October 2009, it refused to submit a timeline for its design, construction and original purposes, saying that information lay outside its reporting obligations under the safeguards agreement with the UN agency.

Two years later in September 2011, then-IAEA Director General Yakiya Amano revealed that Iran had “installed centrifuges in Fordow with the stated objective” of producing uranium enriched up to 20 percent.

By March 2012, Amano reported that monthly production of 20 percent-enriched uranium at Fordow had tripled as four cascades of centrifuges had started simultaneous operation for the first time.

Uranium enrichment is the process of increasing the concentration of the uranium-235 isotope in natural uranium, which normally contains only about 0.7 percent U-235. To build a nuclear weapon, uranium must be enriched to about 90 percent U-235. Once enriched to those levels, uranium is considered “weapons-grade”.

In 2015, Iran, China, Russia, the US, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the European Union signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The deal put strict curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for lifting sanctions.

In 2015, Iran was believed to have 2,700 centrifuges installed at Fordow.

What did Iran agree to under the JCPOA?

As the JCPOA talks progressed, Iran stopped production at Fordow by January 2014 and didn’t conduct “any further advances” there, the IAEA reported for the rest of the year. Iran also diluted its enriched uranium stockpile to 5 percent purity.

The JCPOA banned enrichment at Fordow and allowed only peaceful development of nuclear technology in Iran for energy production in return for a complete lifting of sanctions.

Iran agreed to refrain from any uranium enrichment and research into uranium enrichment at Fordow for 15 years. It also agreed not to keep any nuclear material there but instead to “convert the Fordow facility into a nuclear, physics and technology centre”.

A little more than 1,000 of the facility’s centrifuges were allowed to remain there with the rest moving to Natanz – something the IAEA said was done by January 2017.

Are there concerns about clandestine nuclear development at Fordow?

Despite the JCPOA, concerns and speculation over the Fordow  facility continued.

In 2016, Iran placed a Russian S-300 air defence system above the facility, indicating that it feared a direct air strike there.

After US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, Iran gradually slid free of its constraints too, even though European partners tried to salvage the agreement.

During the unannounced inspection in January 2023, the IAEA discovered that Iran had connected two sets of centrifuges at Fordow, allowing it to enrich uranium to 60 percent purity, in contravention of Tehran’s safeguards agreement with the UN agency.

“Iran implemented a significant change to the declared design information for the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP) without informing the agency in advance. This was contrary to Iran’s obligations under its safeguards agreement,” Grossi said.

The IAEA also said it had found uranium particles at Fordow enriched to 83.7 percent purity – close to the 90 percent enrichment needed for weapons-grade uranium.

“At the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, we found particles of high enriched uranium with enrichment levels well beyond the enrichment level declared by Iran,” Grossi said on March 6, 2023.

Iran denied this. On June 3 this year, Iran told the IAEA it had “exhausted all its efforts to discover the origin of such particles in those locations. According to the extensive investigations and examinations, relevant Iranian security authorities have recently discovered further clues confirming that sabotage and/or malicious act have been involved in the contamination of those locations.”

Can Israel destroy the Fordow facility?

It is widely believed that Israel lacks the means to penetrate the facility unless it deploys a commando unit to go inside it and physically plant explosives – a risky operation.

The Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant is considered a much more difficult target than Natanz because it is located inside a mountain.

The US, however, has a bomb that could theoretically destroy Fordow. The Massive Ordnance Penetrator weighs 13,600kg (30,000lbs). If enough of these bombs are dropped from a B-2 bomber, they could possibly collapse Fordow’s underground bunkers. Trump on Wednesday left open the possibility that he might deploy these weapons.

“I’m not looking to fight,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “But if it’s a choice between fighting and having a nuclear weapon, you have to do what you have to do.”

In typically enigmatic fashion, he said: “I may do it. I may not do it.”

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s government has been rocked after a major coalition partner quit amid mounting public anger over a leaked phone call she had with a former Cambodian leader.

Paetongtarn faced growing calls to resign on Thursday as the kingdom was racked by renewed political instability, with fears that an ongoing border dispute with Cambodia could trigger military clashes.

The crisis engulfing Paetongtarn’s government comes after audio was leaked of a phone call she held with Cambodia’s ex-leader Hun Sen, who still wields considerable influence in his country, discussing a border dispute between the countries in which a Cambodian soldier was killed in a clash in May.

During the June 15 call, Paetongtarn pressed Hun Sen for a peaceful resolution to the dispute, calling him “uncle” and urging him not to listen to “the other side” in Thailand, including an outspoken Thai army general who she said “just wants to look cool”.

Paetongtarn later told reporters that her stance towards Hun Sen was a negotiation tactic, and there were no issues with the military.

Coalition partner quits

The leak has caused a strong backlash against the 38-year-old prime minister – the daughter and niece, respectively, of former leaders Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra – just 10 months into her premiership.

Late Wednesday, the conservative Bhumjaithai party – her Pheu Thai party’s biggest partner – pulled out of the coalition, saying Paetongtarn’s conduct had wounded the country and the army’s dignity.

The loss of Bhumjaithai’s 69 MPs leaves Paetongtarn’s coalition with a slim majority in parliament, raising the prospects of a snap election just over two years since the last one.

Other coalition parties will hold meetings on Thursday to discuss their next steps, with their defection from the coalition likely to spell the end of Paetongtarn’s government.

The main opposition People’s Party, a successor to the Move Forward Party that won most seats in a 2023 vote but was disbanded last year by a court, said new elections were needed.

“The situation yesterday on the leaked phone call is the last straw for Prime Minister Paetongtarn in harming public trust in her,” People’s Party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut said.

“I want the prime minister to dissolve parliament. I think the people want a government that can solve problems for the people, a legitimate government that comes from a democratic process.”

Hundreds of antigovernment protesters demonstrated outside Government House on Thursday, demanding Paetongtarn quit, the AFP news agency reported.

Army ‘affirms commitment’ to democracy

Paetongtarn’s perceived slight on a general is a sensitive issue in a country where the army has played an influential role in politics. There have been a dozen coups since the end of absolute monarchy rule in 1932.

The military said in a statement that army chief General Pana Claewplodtook “affirms commitment to democratic principles and national sovereignty protection”, AFP reported.

“The Chief of Army emphasised that the paramount imperative is for ‘Thai people to stand united’ in collectively defending national sovereignty,” the statement said.

The crisis engulfing Paetongtarn has prompted fears that another coup could eventuate, AFP reported. Both Thaksin and Yingluck were removed from power by the military.

Paetongtarn met top security officials on Thursday to discuss the crisis with Cambodia, the Reuters news agency reported.

With Thailand’s defence minister, army chief and armed forces commander at her side, she apologised over the leaked conversation, appealed for national unity and affirmed her support for the military.

“We don’t have time for infighting. We have to protect our sovereignty. The government is ready to support the military in all ways,” she said.

Cambodian ambassador summoned

The leak has further inflamed tensions between Thailand and neighbouring Cambodia, amid the simmering territorial dispute. On Thursday, Thailand summoned the Cambodian ambassador over the matter, saying the disclosure of a private conversation was unacceptable.

“It is a breach of diplomatic etiquette, a serious violation of trust, and undermines conduct between two neighbouring countries,” Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura said.