Since February 28, the date of Israel and the United States’ entry into war against Iran, the daily life of Israelis is marked by sirens and repeated trips to shelters. Schools closed, deserted streets, activities suspended: the country is functioning in slow motion. Yet, at the heart of this constant tension, doctors, journalists, and teachers continue their mission to maintain essential services and preserve, as much as possible, a form of normality.
AI Index: Mediterranean Knowledge Library
Civil life under the strain of war: chronicles from the home front
22-med – March 2026
• In Israel, hospitals, newsrooms, and homes are reorganizing every daily gesture to the rhythm of alerts and shelters.
• Doctors, journalists, and teachers maintain essential services despite the war, between constant adaptation and civil resilience.
#israel #war #health #education #journalism #resilience #civilsociety.
In hospitals, newsrooms, or apartments transformed into makeshift classrooms, the war disrupts the rhythms of civilian life. Sirens interrupt consultations, delay news broadcasts, and suspend online classes. Each day is organized around alerts and movements to shelters. Despite this constant pressure, those who perform essential functions in society strive to maintain a minimum of continuity: to care, inform, teach, and preserve, as much as possible, the markers of daily life.
Hospitals on maximum alert
In healthcare facilities, the shift to emergency mode was immediate. Dr. Eytan Wirtheim, the general director of the country’s largest health fund, Clalit, explains that preparations had already been underway for several weeks.
“Clalit ensures the continuity of activities in hospitals and clinics. We have strengthened protected areas, increased stockpiles of equipment, and developed telehealth capabilities to be able to follow patients even when movements become difficult,” he indicates.
In hospitals, patients are gradually being transferred to secure areas. Non-urgent operations are suspended to free up staff and beds for critical situations. Patients who can return home are followed by community care services.
At Rabin Medical Center, the general director, reserve lieutenant colonel Dr. Erez Barenboim, emphasizes the adaptability of the teams. “Our center is trained to quickly shift from routine to emergency. The expertise and resilience of our teams allow us to respond to threats while maintaining continuity of care,” he says.
However, the war intrudes even into the most intimate moments. Professor Osnat Walfisch, director of the women’s hospital at Rabin Medical Center, recounts performing a cesarean section amid an alert. “The conditions are not what we would wish to offer, but there is one thing we will never compromise on: the quality of care. In the turmoil of war, nothing is more beautiful than giving life.”
Further north, in Haifa, the Rambam Health Care Campus now operates from its underground parking lot transformed into a 20,000 m² medical bunker capable of accommodating nearly a thousand patients.
In response to the risk of missile strikes, Clalit has also urgently opened a secure hospital in Rishon Lezion, a suburb of Tel Aviv, named Magen HaAri, intended to accommodate particularly vulnerable patients, especially in rehabilitation or geriatrics. In just a few days, 216 patients are to be transferred there with their care teams to continue their treatment in safer conditions.
The new facility will be operated jointly by teams from three medical centers. About 250 staff members work there, including doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and social workers.
Informing under constant threat
While hospitals prepare for the worst, journalists attempt to document the war in real time. In Israeli newsrooms, teams often work between alerts, sometimes from shelters or remotely. The waiting time in shelters often delays their preparation for air and forces them to design their broadcasts under constant pressure, demanding often extreme speed.
For these reporters, the war is not just a subject: it is a daily environment. Correspondents cover strikes, political decisions, but also the human stories that unfold behind the statistics and at the sites of missile impacts. Sometimes tragic stories but also beautiful examples of solidarity.
“Either we are in the newsroom, or we are on the ground. In the newsroom, we have to chain live reports, analyze the situation, try to understand what is happening, and provide viewers with the most accurate information possible,” explains Shani Guidalia, a seasoned journalist from i24NEWS.
But when teams go to the impact sites, the war takes on a whole new dimension. “On the ground, we go into areas hit by missiles. We see the damage, sometimes considerable, and that inevitably affects morale. It is at that moment that we truly realize the scale of the war: when a missile strikes directly or when debris causes significant destruction,” she says.
The difficulty, the journalist confides, lies in the very thin line between work and personal life. “You constantly have to juggle between the moments when you are on duty and those when the workday ends. Because even when the camera is off, the war does not stop.”
Yet, at the heart of this tense situation, Shani Guidalia also highlights collective resilience. “What is striking is people’s ability to continue living. We see people sitting at tables in cafes, we laugh between two live reports, there are sometimes convivial moments in the shelters. People are not in panic.”
After more than two years of conflict, she explains, a form of habit has even settled in. “The sirens sound, people take cover, then they come out and resume their activities. This ability not to be overcome by fear is truly exceptional,” she confides.
Distance learning, a sense of déjà vu
The education system is also functioning in slow motion. Schools remain closed, and classes sometimes take place online. The Minister of Education, Yoav Kish, announced that the gradual reopening of schools would depend on the assessment of threats by the Home Front Command and the availability of secure shelters.
In Tel Aviv, Mayor Ron Huldai believes it is too early to send students back to class, while the Mayor of Jerusalem, Moshe Leon, wants classes to resume in his city, and the Mayor of Netanya, Avi Salama, is in favor of a partial return.
For teachers, the situation recalls the Covid-19 pandemic. “We are teaching on Zoom as much as possible, but it’s not the same,” explains a high school teacher.
On the parents’ side, the dilemma is constant. “The children follow a few lessons online, but they need to see their friends. Yet, missiles can fall at any moment, and many schools do not have shelters. Under these conditions, keeping them at home seems safer,” says Yael, a mother of three and a resident of Netanya. Between sirens, distance learning, and hospitals turned into bunkers, Israeli society is trying to maintain a fragile balance. Despite the war, doctors, journalists, and teachers continue their mission: to preserve as much as possible the markers of daily life.
Photo of the Day: surgeons performing a cesarean section amid missile alerts © spokesperson for Rabin Medical Center
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