(NewsNation) — As wounded Israelis began streaming into the Soroka Medical Center this past weekend with injuries from a Hamas-led assault, doctors worked quickly to get them triaged.

“The teams were working constantly, the operating rooms were full booked and operated constantly, patients were arriving by the minute,” said Dr. Roy Kessous, deputy general manager of the hospital who spoke to NewsNation’s Elizabeth Prann about the attack.

For the next 36 hours, the hospital was working in overdrive as it dealt with a massive inflow of patients from the attack carried out Saturday that left more than 1,000 Israelis dead. Many of the wounded were taken to Soroka, located about 25 miles west of Gaza.

In the first 36 hours after fighting broke out, at least 700 to 800 people were transported there to be treated for gunshot wounds or shrapnel injuries.

“In Israel, we have never seen such horrific and mind-blowing numbers of patients that arrived by the minute,” Kessous said.

As for the staff, some doctors and nurses kept working even after learning they had lost members of their own family. There were even medical center staff members who died in the initial attack.

“It’s amazing the spirit that you get from the the crew members,” Kessous said.

There wasn’t much time to think about what he was witnessing in those early hours. But after speaking to patients, the gravity of the situation became clear.

“To listen to them, to sit with them and understand what they’ve been through, it’s shocking,” he said.

After driving Hamas militants out of several kibbutzim that were attacked, the Israeli military has started the painstaking process of retrieving and identifying the dead. Soldiers have described the atrocities committed, including the slaughter of some 40 children in one village.

“These are terrorists that have butchered hundreds of civilians, kids without weapons at their homes in their bed, tortured them,” Kessous said. “The scenes were — you cannot imagine that, and this is something we have not seen ever.”

The hospital was able to manage the initial surge, and Kessous says there are enough resources to withstand another, “God forbid.”

“We will be ready, and we will treat patients,” Kessous said. “Mentally speaking, for now, I think we’re in (a kind of) automatic mode, (where) we continue what we need to do.”

NewsNation digital producers Tyler Wornell and Cassie Buchman contributed to this report.