Senior Health Ministry officials met on Tuesday with mayors and heads of authorities and described in detail the possible scenario that could ensue in Israel if an all-out war breaks out on the northern front.

The main points of the National Emergency Authority’s scenario were published by Kan News on Tuesday evening.

According to the report, Israel is preparing for widespread blackouts and power outages in over 60% of the country which will last at least 48 hours. In addition, local power outages are expected that will last up to three weeks.

In light of the expected situation, electricity will have to be preserved and every house in Israel may experience two-hour electricity outages between two to three times a day.

The director-general of the Health Ministry, Moshe Bar Siman Tov, warned that “if everyone does the minimum in such a scenario, we will reach a situation where we will lose the lives of many, many people. The burden on all the organizations in the health system –  the Kupot Cholim, the hospitals, and evacuation services – will be enormous and endless.”

The main concern of emergency system officials is the possibility of the health system collapsing, chalilah, and the treatment of approximately 35,000 people dependent on ventilators and respiratory support in the event of prolonged power outages.

As part of the preparations, the Health Ministry is purchasing thousands of generators that will be distributed to those dependent on ventilators and other machines. The authorities were asked to establish energy and oxygen centers in protected spaces, each of which will have up to 50 charging stations for ventilators and other medical equipment.

The goal of establishing the centers is to prevent the health system from collapsing while it is already stretched to the limit.

“What will happen if this scenario is actualized? How will we deal with it?” asked Bar Siman Tov in the discussion, and hastened to reply: “It is true that there will be such chaos – that no one will notice anything, but we want to save as many lives as possible.”

Hezbollah has a massive arsenal of missiles and rockets that can reach most of Israel. Additionally, it has constructed an extensive and sophisticated tunnel network over the past 30 years that poses an extremely severe risk to Israeli residents of the north and all of Israel.

On Tuesday, the municipality of Rishon L’Tzion announced its plan to house tens of thousands of city residents in underground shelters in case of a Hezbollah rocket attack on Israel that would result in damage to homes in the city. The municipality said it was preparing parking areas to be used as temporary safe spaces if and when needed.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)