It was a little after midnight, shortly after the start of the new year and the Hamas terrorist group’s rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, that the first babies of 2025 were born in the hospitals of a country still faced with war.
Dor Hershkowitz, from Haspin in the Golan Heights, left his reserve duty to see his wife Michal and their newborn son at Tzafor Hospital, south of Tiberias.
Born at 2:50 a.m. and weighing 3,720 kg, he has an older brother and sister, Yuval and Arbel.
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“I didn’t think I would give birth so early this year: there is something magical about it,” Michal said.
While hoping that 2025 would bring “its share of healthy babies”, Michal said he hoped for the end of the war “and the healthy return of the hostages”.
When Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, they killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages, mostly civilians, whom they held in Gaza. The number of hostages still in Hamas hands is estimated at 96.
Michal, left, and Dor Hershkowitz with their newborn, the first baby born at Tzafon Medical Center in 2025. (Poriya Hospital)
At the Galilee Hospital in Nahariya, Orel Miral Ohana, who gave birth to a 3,240 kg girl at 2:28 a.m., said: “This is a wonderful gift for my 30th birthday. »
A former resident of Nahariya, Ohana explains that she came from Jerusalem, where she lives, to give birth in this hospital where “the staff is so kind that the trip is worth it”.
By the time of the war against Hezbollah, the hospital’s maternity ward had been moved to underground facilities. Since the temporary ceasefire that came into effect on November 27, the service has returned to its original location.
Despite her joy, Ohana explains that the war is on her mind.
“It’s a wonderful feeling and a sign of renewal,” she confides. “But above all I would like the hostages to return. »
Orel Miral Ohana, right, with her newborn, the first born in 2025 at the Galilee Hospital, with midwife Hadas Tarbelsi (Spokesperson, Galilee Hospital)
In Beer Sheva, Brit and Matan Ben-David’s son is the first baby born in 2025 at the Soroka hospital center. This is the couple’s third child.
“We hope our baby will bring even more color to our lives,” says Brit of her first two children, Kahol and Argaman (in Hebrew, blue and magenta). She hopes the new year will bring “unity and good news, which we all need.”
Rosh HaAyin residents Efrat and Roy Gilboa Menashe welcomed their first baby, who is also the first baby born at Beilinson Hospital in 2025. Born at 1:50 a.m., he weighs 2,873 kilograms.
“It’s really special to start the year holding such a sweet and wonderful baby,” says Mayson Issa, the midwife who helped the couple during the birth.
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, 181,000 babies will be born in Israel in 2024.
