Ocean Viking with 182 Migrants Waits to Dock in Europe

Migrants are silhouetted during the sunrise on the deck of the Ocean Viking as it sails in the Mediterranean Sea, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019. AP photo
Migrants are silhouetted during the sunrise on the deck of the Ocean Viking as it sails in the Mediterranean Sea, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019. AP photo
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Ocean Viking with 182 Migrants Waits to Dock in Europe

Migrants are silhouetted during the sunrise on the deck of the Ocean Viking as it sails in the Mediterranean Sea, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019. AP photo
Migrants are silhouetted during the sunrise on the deck of the Ocean Viking as it sails in the Mediterranean Sea, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019. AP photo

A nonprofit-run ship carrying 182 migrants rescued on the Mediterranean Sea sailed back and forth between Italy and Malta while awaiting permission to dock at a European port, with its passengers growing increasingly worried about where they would wind up, the Associated Press reported.

Over three days last week, the Norwegian-flagged Ocean Viking, a search-and-rescue vessel jointly operated by two aid groups, picked up 217 people from four unseaworthy boats in the central Mediterranean. The migrants had departed from Libya.

The island nation of Malta, a European Union member, on Friday allowed in 35 migrants who were rescued at the country's request in waters under its responsibility. The 182 remaining on the rescue ship are sleeping on decks and floors, including a newborn baby and 13 other children under age 15.

"Is the EU aware of the situation we are facing?" Kemo Kebbeh, a 25-year-old man from Gambia, asked representatives of SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders who were aboard the Ocean Viking.

He was referring to conditions on the ship but also to the danger and human rights violations migrants face before seting off for Europe in human traffickers' boats.

Malta has forwarded Ocean Viking's request for a safe place to disembark passengers to Norway, France and Italy.

Erkinalp Kelisi of Doctors Without Borders said he had a hard time explaining to the migrants on board the Ocean Viking why they couldn't be transferred to Malta like the 35 others. Malta and Italy so far have refused to accept any passengers, deferring responsibility to other EU nations.

"They are all people. They are all equal, and the system of disembarkation that is imposed has to be the same," Kelisi said.

According to the International Organization for Migration, 6,570 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea so far this year and 2,260 in Malta. Both nations, typically the nearest arrival point for ships crossing the central Mediterranean, want other EU members to share the load.

The 28-nation bloc hasn't reached an agreement on an automatic system for determining where rescued migrants are allowed to land and potentially seek asylum.

The Maltese government plans to host a meeting Monday with French, German and Italian authorities in an attempt to formalize a temporary deal to manage the standoffs that can keep migrants stuck at sea for week, AP said.

Politicians in favor of blocking the ships accuse NGOs of colluding with smugglers. But data shows that most sea arrivals through the central Mediterranean do not happen through charity rescues.

Italy allowed the Ocean Viking last week to disembark at tiny Lampedusa island 82 migrants who were rescued during an earlier mission. But in a scenario that has played out several times before, the Italian government gave the authorization only after Germany, France, Portugal and Luxembourg agreed to take a share of the group.



Iranian Missile Hits Main Hospital in Southern Israel as Strikes Wound Dozens

Smoke rises from Soroka Medical Center following a missile strike from Iran on Israel, in Be'er Sheva, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Smoke rises from Soroka Medical Center following a missile strike from Iran on Israel, in Be'er Sheva, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
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Iranian Missile Hits Main Hospital in Southern Israel as Strikes Wound Dozens

Smoke rises from Soroka Medical Center following a missile strike from Iran on Israel, in Be'er Sheva, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Smoke rises from Soroka Medical Center following a missile strike from Iran on Israel, in Be'er Sheva, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

An Iranian missile slammed into the main hospital in southern Israel early Thursday, wounding people and causing “extensive damage," according to the medical facility. 

Israeli media aired footage of blown-out windows and heavy black smoke.

Another missile hit a high-rise building and several other residential buildings in at least two sites near Tel Aviv. At least 40 people were wounded in the attacks, according to Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service.

Israel, meanwhile, carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, in its latest attack on the country's sprawling nuclear program, on the seventh day of a conflict that began with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting military sites, senior officers and nuclear scientists.

Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel, though most have been shot down by Israel's multi-tiered air defenses, which detect incoming fire and shoot down missiles heading toward population centers and critical infrastructure. Israeli officials acknowledge it is imperfect.

The missile hit the Soroka Medical Center, which has over 1,000 beds and provides services to the approximately 1 million residents of Israel’s south.

A hospital statement said several parts of the medical center were damaged and that the emergency room was treating several minor injuries. The hospital was closed to all new patients except for life-threatening cases. It was not immediately clear how many were wounded in the strike.

Many hospitals in Israel activated emergency plans in the past week, converting underground parking to hospital floors and move patients underground, especially those who are on ventilators or are difficult to move quickly.

Israel’s military said its fighter jets targeted the Arak facility and its reactor core seal to halt it from being used to produce plutonium.

“The strike targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development,” the military said. Israel separately claimed to have struck another site around Natanz it described as being related to Iran’s nuclear program.

Iranian state TV said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” from the attack on the Arak site. An Iranian state television reporter, speaking live in the nearby town of Khondab, said the facility had been evacuated and there was no damage to civilian areas around the reactor.

Israel had warned earlier Thursday morning it would attack the facility and urged the public to flee the area.