Israeli Documents Reveal Iranian Missiles Crippled Haifa Oil Refinery

Documents from Israel’s Interior Ministry reveal that Iranian missiles caused more severe damage to the Bazan oil refinery near Haifa than previously acknowledged, destroying the facility’s main gasoline reservoir and disabling key production equipment. The strike eliminated approximately 60% of Israel’s domestic oil product output, according to the reconstruction report, and is not expected to be fully repaired until 2028.

The disclosure contradicts Energy Minister Eli Cohen’s earlier assurance that fuel supplies would remain stable, prompting a sharp gasoline shortage that officials mitigated by increasing imports and maximizing output at the Ashdod refinery. The interior ministry report details how the attack disabled the refinery’s internal power plant and damaged gas turbines, boilers, and control rooms with shrapnel. To accelerate repairs, the Israeli government authorized work to bypass standard environmental and construction regulations, a regulatory shortcut that recently triggered a lawsuit from Haifa’s municipality and local environmental groups.