In Haifa, an Israeli city within range of Hezbollah rockets, a hospital has been set up in an underground car park

Tensions are rising in the Middle East, particularly between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah. In Haifa, on the Israeli side and a few kilometers from Lebanon, the Rambam hospital is preparing for attacks.

The elevator doors open onto level −3 of the parking garage at Haifa’s Rambam Hospital, and eyes widen. Every time he goes down, Assaf Zeltzer, head of the plastic and reconstructive surgery department, can’t believe it himself: “We are in the main parking lot of the hospital, designed precisely to be able to go from a parking lot to an underground hospital in a relatively short time”.

Haifa, Israel’s largest port, is a strategic city. At 25 kilometers from Lebanon, she is preparing. During the 2006 war, hundreds of missiles were launched by Hezbollah. This trauma led the Israeli state to equip itself with an air shield, the Iron Dome, and a gigantic underground hospital, built under the city hospital. At level −3, it can accommodate 1 200 patients, while there are still 800 additional beds on the floor below.

“It’s like in the movies, it’s a bit like science fiction.”

Assaf Zeltzer

from Rambam Hospital in Haifa

Since the Hamas attack on October 7, the hospital has been on alert. Within two to three hours, all patients can be transferred to this underground hospital. Located in nine meters below sea level, everything is ready. “We are preparing for any attack, explains Assaf Zeltzer. The walls are concreted and can withstand a massive missile attack, and also unconventional weapons. All you hear here is the ventilation system, air purification, oxygen and air exchanges. All scenarios have been planned.”. In June, Hezbollah released a drone video of the city, which showed the Rambam hospital, wedged between two military bases.