Israel is preparing for the worst, expecting retaliation from Iran. Deep beneath the city of Haifa in northern Israel, there is one huge underground hospital.

Hundreds of beds are lined up within its concrete walls. It has operating theatres, a maternity ward and medical supplies stacked in corners. The hospital is currently empty but has what is necessary to receive patients should it become necessary.

This is the Rambam Medical Center which was created after the Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.

It is usually used as a multi-storey car park, but can be converted into a hospital in less than three days. Following the October 7 Hamas attacks and the ongoing war, the hospital is on standby.

The facility has more than 2,000 beds to accommodate patients in the event of a large-scale attack on Israel.

“When, when, when will it happen? Nobody knows. We talk about it a lot,” says Dr. Avi Weissman, the center’s medical director. “People are worried. He and his staff just hope that any escalation of violence doesn’t last long,” he adds.

The city of Haifa where the hospital is located is so close to Lebanon that the city is particularly vulnerable to attack, according to the BBC. People who live here are used to emergency drills. Children in schools regularly rehearse in case of an attack.

“The town is like a ticking time bomb,” one resident told the BBC. “An alarm can be raised at any moment. I will die; Will I have time to go to my family?’ you wonder