She Became Pregnant During “Rising lion" Gave Birth During / Efrat Nomber-Younger, Mako

Two women from Lod gave birth at the beginning of the week simultaneously in the protected delivery rooms of the Shamir Medical Center (Assaf Harofeh). For them, it was not just a birth - both experienced pregnancy and childbirth under the shadow of war, and discovered that their stories were almost identical. “Our children will grow up and hear that they were born during a war, but as far as I’m concerned, they were born in a time of hope.”

While the echoes of explosions and missile fire were heard outside, a boy and a girl were born at the beginning of the week in the protected delivery rooms of Shamir Medical Center, Assaf Harofeh. For the two mothers, Hila Dishak and Hila Bashunov, it was not only the moment of birth but also the closing of a circle.

Hila Dishak gave birth to her first son about a week after October 7, when the entire country was still in shock. This week, on Sunday - the day after the campaign against Iran began - she underwent a cesarean section and gave birth to her second child, a daughter, once again under the shadow of war. In the bed next to her in the maternity ward lay Hila Bashunov, also from Lod. She became pregnant during Operation “Rising Lion” and now gave birth during the second round of fighting with Iran.

“It was a complete moment of déjà vu,” Dishak says. “I gave birth while a war was going on in the background, and I gave birth again while another war was happening. When I realized that Hila had gone through almost the exact same story - and that we even share the same name - we just looked at each other and laughed. We said, ‘Apparently our children chose especially historic moments to come into the world.’”

Bashunov adds: “There’s something unsettling about hearing sirens while you’re waiting to meet your baby. But within all this chaos, I found a new friend.”

Both of them were operated on by Dr. Moshe Batzer, head of the maternity and delivery department at Shamir Medical Center, Assaf Harofeh, who had to perform the surgeries during a prolonged series of sirens.

“We are used to emergency situations, but performing a cesarean section under constant alerts is always a challenge,” says Dr. Batzer. “The teams work with precision, full concentration, and professional calm, even when there is uncertainty outside. In moments like these, you remember why you chose this profession—to bring life into the world when reality looks like this.”

“Our children will grow up hearing that they were born during a war,” Dishak says with a smile. “But as far as I’m concerned, they were born in a time of hope.”