Ultra-Orthodox Israelis line up to donate blood in Jerusalem as Israel awaits an Iranian attack. Friday, July 13, 2025 CREDIT: Yoeli Brim/X

As Israel prepares for what security officials expect to be a massive counterattack from Iran, ultra-Orthodox Jews are lining up to donate blood, according to Israeli video and news reports.

Hours before the beginning of Shabbat at the central Magen David Adom Jerusalem Station, hundreds of Israelis, many of whom are ultra-Orthodox, can be seen donating blood.

The video was shared by Yoeli Brim, a reporter for Israel’s Channel 13 news station.

מרכז מד”א בירושלים רגע לפני כניסת שבת: עשרות בחורי ישיבה חרדים ותושבים נוספים בתור ארוך מאוד לתרומת דם pic.twitter.com/qThk7ahlfV

— יואלי ברים yoeli brim (@yoeli_brim) June 13, 2025

Earlier in the day, MDA announced that it was mobilizing its blood services across Israel as part of its emergency contingency plan due to the missile and drone threat from Iran and its proxies after Israel’s unprecedented strikes against the Islamic Republic overnight on Friday.

In the wake of the Hamas terror group’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of Israel, a number of Haredi organizations and Yeshivot have held blood drives for Israeli soldiers and wounded civilians.

Israelis are continuing to brace for an expected Iranian counterattack. Iran did launch more than 100 drones toward Israeli territory on Friday morning in response; however, the Israeli military said it was intercepting the projectiles and had “control over the situation.”

Security officials say the initial underwhelming drone barrage from Iran is due, in part, to the success of Israel’s opening salvo against Iran, which involved Mossad agents operating inside Israeli territory, according to Maariv, an Israeli news outlet.

Despite Iran’s muted initial response, Israeli leaders have emphasized that they expect a significant response involving ballistic missiles within the next 12-24 hours.

When Iran carries out its expected counterstrike in retaliation for Israel’s attack on its nuclear and military assets, the IDF’s Home Front Command has said it will give a minimum of a 10-minute warning to the country.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that “challenging days and difficult moments lie ahead that we will have to get through together,” after a discussion with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In an unprecedented move, Israel’s Home Front Command announced Friday afternoon that public gatherings at synagogues will be prohibited, according to Israel’s public broadcaster KAN News.

Israel launched a broad preemptive attack on Iran overnight on Friday, targeting military installations and nuclear sites across the country in what officials described as an effort to neutralize an imminent nuclear threat.

Iranian state television confirmed that among those killed was Hossein Salami, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Iranian Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri, along with several other senior military figures. Iranian nuclear scientists Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi were also reported dead following strikes on facilities linked to Tehran’s nuclear program.

Israeli warplanes struck around 3 am local time, triggering emergency protocols throughout Israel and setting off explosions in Tehran, Isfahan, and Arak. Iran activated its air defenses and halted flights at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport as airspace was cleared. Fires broke out at several sites, with footage on state TV showing damaged buildings. Iranian media reported that the strikes hit Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps headquarters as well as residential buildings.

Netanyahu said in a statement that the strikes will “continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.” He added that it will “roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.”