PRESS RELEASE | October 29, 2026 Before International Healthcare Leaders in Copenhagen: Israel’s Min

PRESS RELEASE | October 29, 2026
Before International Healthcare Leaders in Copenhagen: Israel’s Ministry of Health Presents the Story of Soroka Medical Center's Teams Response During the First Hours of the Hamas terror attack on October 7th
At a special event in Copenhagen alongside the WHO Regional Committee for Europe, Israeli healthcare professionals presented firsthand medical testimony and footage from the October 7 Hamas attacks, when Soroka Medical Center received more than 700 casualties within hours. The discussion examined the clinical decisions, national coordination and emergency preparedness that enabled the healthcare system to respond under extreme pressure.
COPENHAGEN, October 29, 2026 - What happens when more than 700 severely injured patients arrive at a hospital within hours, while medical teams must make lifesaving decisions under extraordinary pressure?
That question was at the center of a special event hosted by Israel’s Ministry of Health in Copenhagen on October 28, bringing together international healthcare leaders, medical professionals, representatives of the World Health Organization and diplomatic representatives.
The event presented firsthand medical testimony and documentary footage from Soroka Medical Center, part of Clalit Health Services, during the first hours of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks, alongside practical lessons in mass-casualty response, healthcare leadership and national emergency coordination.
A specially edited version of The Shift, based on an episode of Real Time (Zman Emet) broadcast by Israel’s public broadcaster Kan 11, combined hospital security-camera footage with firsthand accounts from the medical professionals who treated the wounded. The film documented the arrival of more than 700 casualties and the extraordinary clinical and operational challenges faced by Soroka’s teams.
Beyond the immediate medical response, the discussion examined the decisions required at both hospital and national levels: maintaining emergency department and operating room capacity, coordinating patient transfers, anticipating further waves of casualties and sustaining healthcare services across the country.
Mr. Zvi Tal, Ambassador of Israel to Denmark: In Israel, readiness for mass-casualty incidents is not merely a theoretical exercise or an item on an emergency planning checklist. It is a fundamental component of our medical responsibility and a lesson shaped by years of experience responding to complex emergencies, security threats, and large-scale civilian trauma.
Yet preparedness is about much more than protocols, equipment, and infrastructure. It is about people: the clinical judgment of our medical teams, the leadership of our emergency managers, the resilience of our healthcare professionals, and the trust and cooperation that connect hospitals, emergency medical services, the military, public health authorities, and community organizations.
I commend the DG of the Israeli Ministry of Health for his initiative to organize this side event, in the margins of the 76th session of the Regional Committee for Europe of WHO. As I said yesterday in our delegations opening statement, despite the politicization in WHO and the unfair treatment my country has been subjected to by this organization, Israel remains fully committed to advancing solutions and best practices to health challenges on a global or regional scale. This is what this evening’s event is all about.
Dr. Hans Kluge, Regional director for europe of the World Health Organization: I came three times to Israel, and I saw the devastating health and mental impact of war three weeks after October 7, on the 31st of October, I came to provide solidarity and presence to the victims, the relatives of the victims, health workforce, people, and country authorities. And that was another moment of gravitas.
Be'eri, Nir Oz, and Kfar Aza, Nova, Sderot, even a year after, were killing fields right in my sight. It was a moment of gravitas and a revealing reality check of what happened there on October 7th, 2023.