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Ramla near Tel Aviv: The above-ground part of the missile-proof underground blood bank
Photo: - / dpa
Rockets are constantly being fired at Israel.
Now the national emergency medical service Magen David Adom (MDA) has inaugurated a missile-proof underground blood bank.
A spokeswoman confirmed that the building had been inaugurated in Ramla near Tel Aviv the night before.
Official operations are expected to begin later this year.
The world's first facility of its kind is designed to "protect Israel's strategic blood reserves from missiles, chemical and biological attacks, and earthquakes," MDA said in a statement.
The facility consists of six floors, three of which are underground.
The American Friends of Magen David Adom (AFMDA) would have assumed the costs of the equivalent of around 129 million euros for the building.
So far around 260,000 blood units had been stored in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv.
But there they were not protected against rocket attacks.
Israel has around 9.5 million inhabitants.
Around half a million units of blood could be stored in the new building, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Numerous protection mechanisms and particularly thick cement walls
In the past, during missile strikes, emergency medical services have had to interrupt the treatment of blood donations and move blood supplies to shelters just at a time when donated blood might be needed.
The new building has particularly thick cement walls and numerous protection mechanisms in the event of an attack with biological or chemical weapons.
In addition to the regular blood bank, there is also a breast milk and umbilical cord blood bank and a research and development laboratory for molecular biology.
"With threats from Iran and beyond, this high-security facility will enable the national emergency services to save lives in the direst of circumstances for many decades to come," said AFMDA Chair Catherine Reed.
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip have repeatedly fired rockets at Israel.
According to Israeli estimates, the Lebanese Hezbollah militia also has an arsenal of around 200,000 rockets, mortar shells and drones.
Israel also sees itself threatened by missiles from its archenemy Iran.
asc/dpa
