One year after the missile hit in Beersheba: Soroka Hospital presents intensive reconstruction

Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba is embarking on a significant reconstruction effort one year after an Iranian ballistic missile hit the hospital on June 19, 2025. The attack caused severe damage, resulting in the loss of 144 inpatient beds, although the building had been evacuated of patients the previous day, preventing any casualties.

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In the building that was hit, there were many wards and treatment rooms, operating rooms, and laboratories. The damage was extremely severe. In the ophthalmology department, for example, everything was destroyed. We saved what we could, and it was not much. The area that was directly affected underwent controlled demolition. The rest will be restored. The damage significantly reduced the scope of our operations; more than 30% of operating rooms were destroyed, but we quickly resumed operations. It requires a lot of effort and very creative capability from the teams.

Yarden Nevo, deputy director general of the hospital, described the damage as "extremely severe," with entire departments like ophthalmology being destroyed. While the directly affected area underwent controlled demolition, the rest of the building requires restoration. The incident significantly reduced the hospital's operational capacity, destroying over 30% of its operating rooms. Despite these challenges, the hospital's teams quickly resumed operations through extensive effort and creative solutions.

"In fact, the missile created a major opportunity for Soroka to move forward," Nevo stated, highlighting the transformative potential of the reconstruction. The project, estimated at NIS 1.3 billion, is funded by Clalit Health Services, the state treasury, and external donors, including Sylvan Adams, who pledged $100 million. The plan includes a new 70,000-square-meter inpatient tower featuring wards, operating rooms, specialized cardiac and brain catheterization units, a brain center, a heart center, a dialysis institute, and underground parking that can serve as an emergency hospital.

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In fact, the missile created a major opportunity for Soroka to move forward.

The building plan has received approval from the district planning committee, with construction expected to take approximately seven years. Nevo described the future facility as "state-of-the-art, with modern standards, fully protected and with elements beyond what a medical center of this type usually contains," emphasizing a comprehensive approach to patient and family needs. The missile strike also created urgent needs, such as reopening the rehabilitation department, which was temporarily relocated, and transferring some operating room activities to the new Assuta hospital in the city.

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It will be a state-of-the-art building, with modern standards, fully protected and with elements beyond what a medical center of this type usually contains. We are thinking about everything: the needs of families, the hospitalized, and the patients. The hospital will emerge much stronger.