Six-day-old baby rescued from rubble of building in central Israel hit by Iranian missile

Hundreds of Israelis have been injured or affected in the recent strikes on Israel from Iran, some escaping narrowly with their lives. The youngest such survivor was a 6-day old baby rescued from the rubble of a building in central Israel on Monday thanks to Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s emergency services.

Multiple Iranian missiles, many weighing more than a ton, have made direct hits on homes in residential areas causing death, injury, and severe shock and trauma. People have been caught trapped under the ruins of destroyed buildings, and not all escaped with their lives. However, one survivor pulled from the wreckage was a newborn baby, just six days old.

“When police placed the baby in my arms, everything else fell away,” said MDA paramedic Dr. Gal Rosen Rosen. 

"There was screaming and chaos all around, fire at the site, and people running, but I had to tune it all out and focus on the baby completely," he said. 

According to a statement from the MDA, Dr. Rosen had just helped establish triage points for dozens of injured civilians at the scene. He immediately performed medical checks to assess the newborn’s condition, and found that he was conscious and uninjured. 

"At first, I wasn’t sure if the baby could even cry, depending on his medical situation,” he recalled. “I didn’t know how long he’d been alone in the building.”

The baby’s mother, however, remained trapped in the rubble. 

Emergency responders called on a megaphone from amid the smoke and debris, urging those in need of help and treatment to come to the assembly point, where they could provide initial medical care. Those needing further treatment were evacuated to hospitals by MDA intensive care units and ambulances.

Meanwhile, Rosen stayed with the baby in the ambulance for nearly an hour, until the newborn’s mother was finally rescued.

Rosen has served with MDA since 2008, and had done multiple 16 hour shifts since the conflict broke out but this was the first missile impact site he had responded to. The well-seasoned paramedic said the experience was unprecedented, even for trained professionals accustomed to such emergencies.  

“Our team evacuated the ambulance when we heard the siren,” he recounted. “As we were running to shelter I could feel the shock waves from nearby interceptions, and my only thought was that ‘my family will be so upset if something happens.”

Rosen’s family have experienced bereavement as a result of terrorism, and he had assured them he would not put himself in danger. “But when the call came, I had to go,” he said. He has no doubt he is doing the right thing. “I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be – saving lives.”

MDA has mobilized 35,000 personnel since the beginning of the strikes from Iran, which have killed 24 civilians and injured more than 700.