Israel's deputy foreign affairs minister said Iran's hit on the Soroka hospital on Thursday was "deliberate" and "criminal". In a post on X, Sharren Haskel said the site was the main medical centre for Israel's entire Negev region.

The Arak, or IR-40 nuclear reactor is a Heavy Water nuclear reactor located in northeastern Iran. At its conception in 2003, Arak was intended to be a large-scale producer of Heavy Water for Iran. This was concerning because of Heavy Water's usefulness in producing and enriching weapons grade Plutonium.

The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflicts dating back to the 20th century, it follows the wars of 2008–2009, 2012, 2014, and 2021.