'You sense the bombing come closer' War with Hezbollah looms in northern Israel

Beneath the 800-bed Galilee medical centre in the northern Israeli city of Nahariya, treatment is being conducted in an underground complex beneath the hospital.

- Peter Beaumont and Quique Kierszenbaum

About 7km from the border with Lebanon, a frontier visible from the hospital's car park and already under threat from Hezbollah's missiles and explosive drones, the doctors are aware that in the event of an escalating war their facility will be on the frontline.

A suite equipped with monitors and screens will act as the nerve centre in the event of a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah, a prospect that looms ever larger amid rising hostilities and exchanges of fire across the border.On the backs of chairs are hi-vis jackets, describing the roles that will be required, including "mass casualty coordinator".

In charge of the emergency preparations is Dr Tsvi Sheleg, an ophthalmologist whose unit was hit by a missile during the 2006 war.

"Two weeks into the conflict," he says, "we opened a second trauma unit when we realised we might not have enough beds. We have trained for a worst-case scenario that would see continuous missile attacks in concentrated effort to challenge [Israel's defences]."

It is not only hospitals that have been preparing for a potential widening of the conflict.