Israeli emergency services work at the site of an Iranian missile attack in Ramat Gan in central Israel near Tel Aviv on Thursday. — AFP 
Israel struck a key Iranian nuclear site on Thursday and Iranian missiles hit an Israeli hospital, as President Donald Trump kept the world guessing about whether the US would join Israel in air strikes seeking to destroy Tehran's nuclear facilities, reports Reuters.
A week of Israeli air and missile strikes against its major rival has wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military command, damaged its nuclear capabilities and killed hundreds of people, while Iranian retaliatory strikes have killed at least two dozen civilians in Israel.
The Israeli military said it targeted the Khondab nuclear reactor in Iran's Arak overnight, including its partially-built heavy-water research reactor. Heavy-water reactors pose a nuclear proliferation risk because they can easily produce plutonium, which, like enriched uranium, can be used to make the core of an atom bomb.
Iranian media reported two projectiles hitting an area near the facility, which had been evacuated and there were no reports of radiation threats.
Israel's military said it also struck a site in the area of Natanz, which it said contains components and specialised equipment used to advance nuclear weapons development.
On Thursday morning, several Iranian missiles struck populated areas in Israel, including a hospital in the southern part of the country, according to an Israeli military official.
Trails of missiles and interception efforts were visible in the skies over Tel Aviv, with explosions heard as incoming projectiles were intercepted. Israeli media also reported direct hits in central Israel.
Emergency services said five people had been seriously injured in the attacks and dozens of others hurt in three separate locations. People were still trapped in a building in a south Tel Aviv neighbourhood, they added.
Around a dozen mostly European and African embassies and diplomatic missions are located just a few hundred metres from the strike on Tel Aviv.
Images showed buildings extensively damaged in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv and emergency workers helping residents, including children. Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, in southern Israel, reported it had sustained damage.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it was targeting Israeli military and intelligence headquarters near the hospital.
The worst-ever conflict between the two regional powers has raised fears that it will draw in world powers and further destabilize the Middle East.
AFP adds: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday strongly condemned Israeli attacks on Iran in a phone call and stressed the need for a diplomatic solution, Moscow and Beijing said. Putin and Xi "strongly condemn Israel's actions", Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters after the call.
He added that Moscow and Beijing believed the end to the hostilities "should be achieved exclusively by political and diplomatic means".
Russia is close to Iran, having boosted military ties amid its offensive on Ukraine, but also strives for good relations with Israel.
Last week, Putin held phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, offering himself as a peacemaker.
The United Nations Security Council will convene today (Friday) to discuss the ongoing war between Israel and Iran, council president Guyana said. Following a first, urgent meeting after Israel attacked last Friday, this second session was requested by Iran, with support from Russia, China and Pakistan, a diplomat told AFP on Wednesday.
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