Iranian missiles again evaded Israel's sophisticated aerial defense array on Thursday, striking a main hospital in the south as well as residential areas in the country's populous center.

Israel has long relied on its multilayered missile defense system to protect communities around the country from rocket barrages from militants in Gaza or Lebanon. Since the wars in the Middle East erupted in 2023, that list has grown to include fire from rebels in Yemen and Iran.

The Israeli military said Thursday that Iran used a missile with multiple warheads in its attack, posing a new challenge to its defenses.

Instead of having to track one warhead, missiles with multiple warheads can pose a more difficult challenge for air defense systems, like Israel’s Iron Dome.

Hezbollah will not join the fray in the Israeli-Iranian war, a Lebanese government source told al-Jadeed Thursday, after an Iranian official told al-Jazeera that Hezbollah would act if the United States intervened to back up its ally Israel.

"The communication between the Lebanese Army and Hezbollah is reassuring," the source said, ruling out such a possibility.

Hackers with possible links to Israel have drained more than $90 million from Nobitex, Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchange, according to blockchain analytics firms.

The group that claimed responsibility for the hack leaked on Thursday what it said was the company's full source code. "ASSETS LEFT IN NOBITEX ARE NOW ENTIRELY OUT IN THE OPEN," the group wrote on its Telegram account.

Switzerland's central bank said Thursday it has reduced its target interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, adding that inflationary pressures have eased.

Global shares retreated Thursday as worries persisted about conflict in the Middle East.

On the seventh day of a conflict that began with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting military sites, senior officers and nuclear scientists, Iranian state media reported that Iran's foreign minister planned to meet with his European counterparts in Geneva.

Locals, art lovers and diplomats like to meet over a meal and a drink in the historic Gastrobar Berlage behind a landmark art museum in The Hague.

But the usual stream of visitors turned into a trickle when fences started rising outside as part of super-tight security around a meeting of NATO leaders that is smothering the Dutch city in a massive military and police operation called Orange Shield.

For years, Israel has targeted Iranian nuclear scientists, hoping to choke progress on Iran's nuclear program by striking at the brains behind it.

Now, with Iran and Israel in an open-ended direct conflict, scientists in Israel have found themselves in the crosshairs after an Iranian missile struck a premier research institute known for its work in life sciences and physics, among other fields.

Much of the focus on Iran's nuclear program has been on Tehran's enrichment of uranium, but experts also keep a close watch on the Islamic Republic's Arak heavy water reactor.

That's because the facility, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of Tehran, could produce plutonium, which can be used to make an atomic bomb.

The Bank of England warned Thursday about the "highly unpredictable" geopolitical environment as it kept its main interest rate unchanged at the two-year low of 4.25%.

With concerns mounting over the conflict between Israel and Iran, and uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff agenda, rate-setters at the bank were widely expected to keep borrowing costs on hold as they await developments.