A ballistic missile from Iran directly hit Be’er Sheva’s Soroka Hospital on Thursday morning, causing extensive damage and injuring several.
“We felt the floor move beneath our feet. In our department, windows exploded and acoustic ceilings collapsed, and in some places the damage was even worse,” Vadim Benkovich, head of the orthopedics department said.
The building that was hit contains the hospital’s anesthesia department. Mira, the secretary of that department, considered taking shelter under her desk when she heard the siren, but she listened to another employee and ran to the reinforced room. “I can’t believe I’m alive,” she told Davar.
Health Ministry Director General Moshe Bar Siman Tov said that good preparation prevented “a much more severe disaster” that could have cost many lives. For the past several days, hospitals across Israel have been operating according to emergency protocols, with nearly all patients being treated in underground or otherwise fortified wards.
“Alongside preparing for mass-casualty events, we’ve taken steps to fortify and relocate patients to protected areas and reduce patient numbers—discharging them earlier,” Bar Siman Tov explained. “Many decisions have been made in this area: shortening hospital stays, discharging patients, strengthening community care systems, and using alternative hospitalization models—we’re doing this constantly.”
Patients who were being treated in Soroka have been transferred to nearby hospitals. Bar Siman Tov said that those wounded in today’s attack join the hundreds of other Israelis injured in the past week of war with Iran.
“We’re facing a threat we don’t fully understand,” Bar Siman Tov said. “These missiles are different. From the moment we saw what happened in Bat Yam and elsewhere, we realized the nature of the damage requires a different kind of preparation, and we are constantly ensuring hospitals can maintain functional continuity and provide care.”
Once this war ends, the health system and the Home Front Command will need to evaluate how to update the protection strategy for future conflicts, he added.
A full damage assessment is still being carried out, and it’s unclear how long it will take for the hospital to return to full activity.
Dr. Aviva Levitas, head of the pediatric cardiology department, told Davar she was shocked by the destruction in her department. “All the windows were destroyed. Luckily, the echocardiogram machines were saved,” she said. “I was mainly worried about the soldiers from Gaza who are hospitalized here, after all they’ve been through. Buildings can be repaired—lives cannot.”
Luckily, the pediatric cardiology department was not yet open when the missile struck.
Pediatric cardiologist Hanna Krimko was in her home in Omer, a town bordering Be’er Sheva, when the missile struck. As soon as the Home Front Command said it was safe to leave the shelter, she rushed to the hospital to help.
Krimko told Davar that 80% of the pediatric cardiology patients are members of the Negev’s Bedouin community. “Patients here receive devoted care. From Hebron or the Palestinian Authority, we don’t look at where you’re from—we treat all children equally. It feels like a betrayal, that we were targeted.”
Levitas added that some of the Bedouin parents had called to ask how they were.
Yesterday, Krimko diagnosed a child with a heart defect that had not been previously identified. This morning, she is very worried about his care. “We’ll make sure to continue working for the children,” she said.
Missiles fired in the same Iranian barrage Thursday morning also struck the central Israeli cities of Holon, Tel Aviv, and Ramat Gan. Dozens were injured, including two in critical condition.
