Israeli Report: Iranian Strike Destroyed Pilot Training Center

Date: 27 June 2025 - 20:49

News ID: ۱۴۰۸۴۹

TEL AVIV (Dispatches) -- An Iranian missile strike devastated several research labs at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Beersheba, which plays a significant role in training Israeli air force (IAF) pilots, an Israeli newspaper reports.
The IAF flight course is a three-year program that has been in place for approximately 20 years, with over 1,000 military pilots graduating and earning their degrees.
On June 19, an Iranian ballistic missile strike destroyed six laboratories and severely damaged nine others at Ben-Gurion University, the Times of Israel reported.
The retaliatory strike “wiped out years of work on diverse research projects in medicine and biology,” the university said.
According to the daily, classrooms, instructional labs, and the dissection room of the Faculty of Health Sciences were heavily impacted, along with damage to 30 additional buildings on the main Marcus Family Campus.
University officials are still assessing losses, which may run into hundreds of millions of shekels, it added.
According to Professor Daniel Chamovitz, the current president of BGU, initial estimates of damage caused by Iranian missiles hitting Israeli research and development centers indicate that at least four universities and technology institutes of the regime were completely destroyed or damaged in Haifa, Tel Aviv, and Beersheba.
Due to strict media censorship enforced by the Israeli military, foreign journalists have been barred from reporting on damage to sensitive sites, and access to satellite imagery has been limited.
However, evidence emerged that Iran’s retaliatory attacks hit sites such as the Kirya (Israel’s ministry of military affairs headquarters), Camp Moshe Dayan (an intelligence operations hub), Tel Nof and Ovda Air Bases, and the interior ministry building.
Furthermore, strikes targeted infrastructure, including the Bazan Oil Refinery, Haifa and Hadera power stations, Ashdod Power Plant, Ben Gurion Airport, and the Weizmann Institute of Science.
The Bazan Refinery in Haifa was shut down due to a missile impact that killed three employees and damaged oil pipelines and infrastructure. Moreover, the Unit 8200 base near Glilot was also hit, with geo-located footage showing impacts near suspected Mossad facilities.
The Weizmann Institute reportedly incurred $570 million in damage, and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange building was also struck. Iran’s final barrage before the truce involved 14 ballistic missiles targeting additional military and logistical sites.
The full extent of the damage across the occupying regime remains unclear due to Israel’s strict information blackout.