Soroka medical center rebuilds one year after Iranian missile strike
New facilities, including a protected NICU and an expanded trauma center are expected to open in the coming months
Clalit-Soroka Medical Center said it is rebuilding stronger, safer and more advanced one year after an Iranian ballistic missile struck the hospital during Operation Rising Lion on June 19, 2025. The missile caused extensive damage to the Northern Surgical Inpatient Building, the hospital's first structure, built in 1959. Nearby buildings and infrastructure were also affected.
Soroka is southern Israel's largest hospital and the primary medical center for more than one million residents of the Negev region.
According to the hospital, medical teams continued delivering uninterrupted care throughout the crisis while extensive restoration work was completed, including repairs to infrastructure, windows, and medical equipment. The Internal Medicine Building is now nearing full operational capacity, after three departments were renovated and modernized during the war.
The Northern Operating Room Complex, which was destroyed in the attack, is undergoing a major rebuilding and fortification program, with reopening expected by the end of this year. Three new protected operating rooms are being built elsewhere on campus. In March 2026, the eastern section of the Northern Surgical Inpatient Building was demolished, and planning for reconstruction of the western section has been completed.
Soroka and the Municipality of Be'er Sheva are advancing a development plan expected to double the medical center's built area, spanning about 11 acres along Rager Boulevard. The plan includes mixed use towers, about 300 residential units for healthcare workers, hotel accommodations and medical institutes. Separately, the hospital is planning an 11-story protected inpatient tower with a Heart Center, a Neuroscience and Brain Center, and underground parking convertible into an emergency hospital during crises.
In the coming months, Soroka expects to open a new protected Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, a research building, a rehabilitation center offering the hospital's first pediatric rehabilitation services, and an expanded Emergency Department and Trauma Center.
Shlomi Codish, Director General of Clalit-Soroka Medical Center, said, "We are building the next generation of healthcare in Israel, a larger, safer, more innovative and stronger medical center."