Northern Israeli Hospitals Shift to War Readiness

Jerusalem, 22 September, 2024 (TPS) -- Israel’s Health Ministry instructed Israel’s northern hospitals to shift to war readiness following overnight Hezbollah rocket barrages.

Elective procedures were canceled, patients who were able to go home were discharged, and the medical staff shifted activities to fortified areas.

The orders applied to seven hospitals in Haifa, Nahariya, Nazareth, Safed, Afula, and Tiberias.

For months, Israeli hospitals were preparing for this scenario, holding regular emergency drills and simulations, refined over the years to address scenarios from missile attacks to large-scale evacuations. Collaborations with tech companies have resulted in specialized modules for trauma management and other critical areas, enhancing their emergency response capabilities.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group fired several barrages of rockets overnight and Sunday morning. Launches included heavy Fajr-5 missiles used for the first time since the Second War in Lebanon in 2006.

Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have soared in recent days.

On Monday, the Security Cabinet updated its official war goals to include the secure return of 60,000 evacuated northern residents to their homes.

On Tuesday, pagers belonging to Hezbollah operatives exploded across Lebanon and in Syria, injuring thousands. More Hezbollah figures were injured in a second wave of explosions on Wednesday. The Iran-backed terror group said 32 of its people were killed, a number that has not been independently verified. Israeli officials believe the death toll is higher than Hezbollah has indicated.

The blasts are widely attributed to Israel, but Jerusalem has not commented.

On Thursday, two Israeli soldiers were killed along the northern border in Hezbollah missile and drone attacks.

An Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Friday killed 16 senior terrorists, eliminating most of the elite Radwan Force’s chain of command.

Northern residents were forced to evacuate their homes when Hezbollah began launching rockets and drones in October. The terror group has launched more than 6,700 rockets and drones, killing 26 civilians and 22 soldiers on the Israeli side. Hezbollah leaders have said they will continue the attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes, which Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah reiterated in a speech on Thursday night.

Israeli officials have been calling for Hezbollah to be disarmed and removed from southern Lebanon in compliance with UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War.

Israel’s three other official war goals are the eradication of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, the return of all hostages, and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.

At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 97 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.