Two years after the October 7 Hamas attacks, Hadassah Medical Center doctors say the work of healing both body and soul is far from over.
“At this point, two years after the outbreak of the war, we don't see a lot of new wounded citizens and soldiers,” said Dr. Sheer Shabat Ben-Yehuda, senior resident in rehabilitation at Hadassah. “But we continue to treat the wounded soldiers and civilians that we admitted in the past two years that are still suffering from physical limitations, emotional distress and chronic pain.”
For these patients, she said, recovery often means crossing “crucial crossroads," such as returning to work, returning to active military duty, or resuming studies.
Ben-Yehuda joined her colleagues in speaking to ILTV during a special virtual event co-produced with the Jewish Agency, “October 7: Two Years Later.”
In the early weeks of the war, the entire country was in shock, recalled Dr. Yonah Ofran from Hadassah’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
“In the beginning, in the hospital and in all of Israeli society, we had to react very quickly to the trauma when we were traumatized ourselves,” she said.
During the course of the war, the Hadassah team moved to the Gandel Rehabilitation Center, which allowed them to work more effectively, Ofran said. The new facility, opened in 2024, has tripled Hadassah’s inpatient capacity.
Ben-Yehuda said the new center enables Hadassah to offer a wider range of recovery services, including dog therapy, acupuncture, yoga, and social worker–led therapy sessions for patients and their families.
For Dr. Yoram Weil, director of the Orthopedic Trauma Unit at Hadassah Ein Kerem, the mission from day one was clear: save limbs whenever possible.
“Most of the injuries involve the skeleton — like 80% of the wounded,” he said. “We saved a lot of limbs. Our amputation rate was one of the lowest in the country.”
Weil credited new 3D printing technologies and close collaboration with rehabilitation teams for the success.
Each doctor pointed to stories of resilience that continue to inspire the staff.
Ben-Yehuda shared one of a lone soldier, severely wounded in Lebanon: “He couldn’t communicate. He couldn’t walk. He was screaming from pain,” she said. “Gradually … he’s now walking, he’s communicating, he makes us all laugh. Just a few weeks ago, he got married to the love of his life. The entire rehabilitation team had the privilege to dance with him at his wedding.”
It was, she said, “a truly very emotional moment that gave us all the strength to continue doing what we're doing.”
Watch the full Hadassah panel:
October 7 Hadassah
(ILTV)
