After Iran strike, Soroka hospital closes to new patients, clears out wards
Health Ministry instructs hospital directors across Israel to minimize number of patients, discharge women soon after childbirth over fears other medical centers may be targeted
An Iranian ballistic missile strikes Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center on June 19, 2025
Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center said Thursday it was moving most of its patients to other hospitals following an Iranian missile strike which caused widespread damage and injured dozens, as other hospitals were told to minimize intake and prepare for the possibility that they could be targeted as well.
At least 80 people were injured when a ballistic missile with a large explosive warhead slammed into the hospital’s surgical ward, destroying it and causing widespread destruction to nearby buildings, the medical center said.
Following the attack, the hospital, which serves around 1 million residents of southern Israel, said it would not accept new patients, except in urgent and life-threatening cases, and that hundreds of existing patients were being sent home or to other hospitals for treatment.
Some 700 patients were being treated in the hospital at the time of the attack, according to Hebrew media reports carrying figures provided by the hospital. By Thursday afternoon, only 300 patients remained, according to the reports.
The Hadassah hospital network in Jerusalem said it was taking in some of Soroka’s patients.
“Our hospitals have been doing intensive preparedness work to provide ongoing patient care in underground hospitals and protected areas and to receive mass casualties,” Hadassah president Carol Ann Schwartz said in a statement.
Soroka said that “the public is asked not to come to the hospital, except for urgent and life-threatening medical cases. Women giving birth in an emergency can come to the Saban Midwifery Center, which is protected. Other women in labor are asked to go to other hospitals at this stage.”
The southern hospital had begun evacuating the surgical ward of patients just days before the attack. Some patients in the damaged building were taken to an underground facility just hours before the strike, a statement from the Health Ministry said.
The strike came amid a barrage of ballistic missiles that targeted a wide swath of the country at around 7 a.m. Thursday, with other impacts in a financial district in Ramat Gan and a Holon residential block.
IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Thursday evening that Iran had intentionally targeted Soroka during the attack.
“Let there be no doubt, the Iranian regime deliberately and maliciously fired at the hospital and population center with the intent to harm civilians. This is state-sponsored terrorism and a blatant violation of international law,” Defrin said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed the medical center was used mainly to treat soldiers fighting in Gaza and that the blast had only caused cosmetic damage.
In reality, the explosion pancaked part of the top floor of a building and turned parts of the hospital into a mess of concrete rubble and mangled steel.
Hospital staff said the blast was so powerful it threw them backward. On Thursday afternoon, they sat in the hospital courtyard rewatching videos of towering plumes of smoke.
“We knew from the noise that it wasn’t like anything we were used to, that it wasn’t like anything we had seen before,” said Nissim Huri, who was working in the kitchen and took refuge in a concrete shelter during the strike.
“It was terrifying,” Huri said, describing the scenes as she emerged from the shelter as “complete destruction.”
Medical transporter Yogev Vizman, called to the scene just after the blast, said he witnessed “total destruction” when he arrived.
“That whole building was on fire…everything collapsed, Vizman said. “I’m sad, this is like my home, they simply destroyed our home… I never thought there would be a direct hit on a hospital.”
Iran has bombarded Israel with ballistic missiles daily in response to Israeli attacks on its nuclear and ballistic programs that began Friday morning. The explosions have destroyed entire residential high-rises, killing 24 people and wounding thousands more.
Following the attack, Health Ministry deputy director Dr. Sefi Mendelovich called on medical centers to limit hospitalizations and prepare for the possibility they may be targeted as well.
In a letter sent to hospital directors obtained by the Ynet news site, Mendelovich told hospital directors nationwide to begin discharging women a mere 12 hours after childbirth, compared to the current standard of 36 hours for vaginal births and 48 hours for cesarean sections.
The ministry also instructed hospitals to revamp their internal mass-casualty event protocols, including “emergency evacuation” procedures for wards hit by missiles.
Preparations must also include readiness for hazardous materials scenarios, requiring updates to toxicological emergency plans and the activation of outdoor decontamination systems.
The International Committee of the Red Cross condemned the Iranian strike on Soroka, insisting that “hospitals must be respected.”
“Under international humanitarian law, the wounded and sick, medical personnel and hospitals must be respected and protected,” the ICRC said on X.
1 comment:
Israel should seek out and destroy the top four or five layers of Iranian government, both civil and military. And do it again if necessary. And again after that. Eventually the goat fuckers will get the idea and decide that maybe Allah really DOESN'T want them to destroy the infidels.
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