TEL AVIV: Amid mounting tensions on the Israeli-Lebanese border, the Israeli Health Ministry instructed the country’s hospitals to prepare ...
TEL AVIV: Amid mounting tensions on the Israeli-Lebanese border, the Israeli Health Ministry instructed the country’s hospitals to prepare for accepting thousands of wounded, the state-run Kan broadcaster said.
Health Ministry Director General Moshe Bar Siman Tov informed all hospitals that they should get ready to switch, if necessary, to emergency working patterns within 24 hours after receiving relevant instructions. This implies transfer of all medical personnel and patients to protected areas, immediate discharge of all patients with mild symptoms and preparedness to treat a large number of wounded.
Besides, major hospitals in the cities of Nahariya and Safed in the country’s north were told to prepare to work in total isolation, without the possibility of receiving the necessary equipment, medicines and food, and also to get ready for accepting a large number of wounded and organizing their transfer to other facilities, Kan said.
Tensions in the Middle East flared up again on October 7, 2023, after militants from the radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of border communities and taking people hostage, including women, children and the elderly. Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and started carrying out strikes on targets in the enclave, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.
Tensions on Israel’s northern border continue to rise as well amid regular shelling attacks from the Lebanese territory and Israel’s retaliatory fire. More than 80,000 Israelis have been evacuated from border regions. The Israeli government says it would prefer a political settlement of the crisis, but the time is running out and the military option still remains on the table.
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