At 7:04 a.m. on Thursday, the staff and patients at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba were alerted that a ballistic missile siren would sound in a few minutes. It was during the morning shift change.
“I ran to move a woman from an outer room to our (slightly) more protective inner rooms,” wrote Deena Devora Jacob, a nurse at the hospital, in a public Facebook post. “I took her off the fetal monitor, and she slowly, slowly took her time getting off the bed. ‘Hurry,’ I said, ‘we don’t have time! Take your bag.’”
At 7:11 a.m., just as the siren began, Jacob had already closed the door to the inner room and started reconnecting the fetal monitors. Less than 60 seconds later, a boom shook the building—bringing down parts of the ceiling and shattering glass.
“The door slammed open, the power went out, and loud fire alarms sirens began,” Jacob recalled. “Everyone screamed. The sound was so loud that none of us could hear anything for minutes after.”
Jacob was in the room with other staff members and patients—Muslims, Bedouins, Jews, Christians. They all huddled together in a corner. They were not in a protected space; Soroka does not have safe rooms in the obstetric emergency ward. Somehow, they were spared. Just two buildings away, the hospital’s main surgical wing and all of its operating rooms were pummeled, along with laboratories and other facilities. Miraculously, the building that sustained the direct hit had been evacuated the day before.
Walking through Soroka, signs of damage are everywhere. Nearly every building has been affected. Shards of glass litter the sidewalks and roads. Cracks appear in multiple structures. A few dozen people were lightly injured in the incident, mostly suffering from shock.
Soroka is one of the largest hospitals in Israel and the only Level 1 trauma center serving the country’s south. While it remains operational for emergency care, it could take months to repair the foundational damage caused by the strike.
Soroka said Friday morning that nearly 400 patients were discharged or transferred to other hospitals on Thursday. Currently, around 270 patients are hospitalized at Soroka, representing approximately 23% occupancy.
My ears are still ringing. I can’t stop shaking. Because what if.
“My ears are still ringing,” Jacob wrote. “I can’t stop shaking. Because what if.”
Dr. Asnat Raziel, director of the obesity treatment center at Assuta Ramat HaHayal Hospital, praised the staff at Soroka Medical Center for their response.
This holiday season, give to:
Truth and understanding
The Media Line's intrepid correspondents are in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan providing first-person reporting.
They all said they cover it.
We see it.
We report with just one agenda: the truth.
The medical teams, she told The Media Line, “demonstrated extraordinary courage and professionalism, operating under immense physical and psychological pressure.”
Raziel emphasized that the staff had to manage not only their patients’ injuries but also their fear and trauma. In the aftermath, psychological support systems were swiftly activated, and helplines were established to assist medical staff, patients, and their families.
Nili Zivan, a member of United Hatzalah’s psychological trauma unit, was on the scene with her support dog to offer some solace to the patients and staff. People were huddled in corners, she said, unable to speak—a standard but severe reaction to such an experience.
“Hospitals are supposed to be a place where we help people,” Zivan told The Media Line. “It just shows you who we are dealing with. But we are a light unto the nations. We do what we can to help each other out.”
The strike also exposed serious vulnerabilities in Israel’s health care infrastructure. The building that was hit was old and lacked sufficient protection, underscoring the need to upgrade and fortify hospitals nationwide—not just in the south.
“Hospitals must continue functioning under adverse conditions, providing a crucial anchor of stability and safety for the population,” Raziel said. “The attack on Soroka Medical Center is more than a fleeting drama; it is a stark reminder of a new reality where health care facilities are frontline targets. Strengthening medical infrastructure, ensuring adequate protection, and enhancing the psychological and operational resilience of health care teams have become critical and urgent priorities.”
State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman echoed similar concerns. Speaking to The Media Line at the scene, he said Israel still lacks adequate protection in many of its older hospital buildings. While some medical centers have been able to relocate all or most of their patients to fortified areas, others have not—either limiting their ability to serve patients or exposing them to risk.
State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman visits Soroka Hospital in Beersheba after the Iranian missile strike, June 19, 2025. (Courtesy)
“There are quite large gaps,” Englman said, though he declined to specify what percentage of hospital beds remain unprotected.
He noted that following the October 7 Hamas massacre—Israel’s largest mass-casualty event—he raised the issue of hospital protection shortfalls in a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dated November 2023. That letter, he said, specifically addressed the situation at Soroka.
“As a result, the Health Ministry prepared a plan allocating more than 4 billion shekels [$1 billion] to address these protection deficiencies,” he said. “But in reality, only 10% of the planned budget was actually allocated.”
He said a report on the matter would be released soon.
Englman urged immediate action: “The government must act to fortify hospitals—including through temporary arrangements, given the current war—because they are a critical lifeline for Israel’s citizens.”
The government must act to fortify hospitals—including through temporary arrangements, given the current war—because they are a critical lifeline for Israel’s citizens.
Dr. Zeev Feldman, chair of the Israel State-Employed Physicians Organization, also raised the alarm, warning that targeting hospitals undermines the ability to preserve life.
“Targeting medical services is beyond condemnation,” Feldman told The Media Line.
Dr. Shlomi Kadosh, director-general of Soroka, said that the targeting of a medical center came as “a total shock.” “The people we have left in the hospital are elderly, cancer patients, people who need urgent medical care—people that cannot go home,” he told The Media Line. “These people were targeted directly to be killed by a missile attack. There is no other explanation for this, and it is shocking.”
Some Israeli officials described the incident as a war crime and emphasized how Iran and Israel differ in their conduct.
“This is a war crime,” said President Isaac Herzog during a visit to the hospital. “A baby in intensive care. A mother by their bedside. A doctor rushing between beds. An elderly resident in a nursing home. These were some of the targets of Iran’s missile attacks on Israeli civilians. … We see the face of evil and terror spread by the ayatollahs in Tehran. At the same time, we see the resilience and strength of Israeli society, united in our desire to see all the peoples of this region live in peace.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu also visited Soroka.
“Here at Soroka Hospital, we see the difference between us and them,” he said. “They strike at hospitals, where people cannot get up and run away, not far from a pediatric ward. We strike precisely at military targets like their nuclear reactors and missile silos.
“That alone is enough said.”