A senior official at the Ministry of Finance says that the residents of the Israeli settlements facing the northern Gaza Strip should prepare to return to their homes soon, according to the army's instructions
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The words are said following the meeting of the war cabinet and heads of authorities from the south last week, where the representatives of the residents opposed the return to the settlements as long as there is no complete cessation of the shooting to the south.
According to the Treasury official, the security establishment is already saying that there is no obstacle to return to Sderot and the settlements that face the northern Gaza Strip.
The official revealed that the Home Front Command requested a budget of 670 million shekels last week to strengthen the security system in the surrounding settlements, "but if the residents do not return and the payment of compensation continues until July, as the Minister of Defense told them, what is the point of budgeting for a thickening of the security now. The money is not unlimited limited," said the official in the ministry.
Kibbutz Bari people in a hotel on the Dead Sea (archive) // Photo: Yoni Rickner
He agreed that there is still a danger of rockets and mortar bombs being fired, but according to him a similar danger exists in all the settlements of the country: "Just last week they fired at Netivot and Yavneh which were not evacuated. At any moment they could also fire at Tel Aviv."
The source stated that every day compensation for the residents of the south costs the state about a billion shekels.
According to him, "The reason for the evacuation of the residents at the beginning of the war was not rocket fire, but the fear of terrorist infiltration, following the attack by Hamas in the first days. This fear has been removed.
"The problem of rockets and bombs is much smaller than it was before the war, following the thorough action of the IDF.
The professional position of the army is that under these conditions it is possible to return home.
Even from a legal point of view, it will soon not be possible to justify the continuation of compensation to those evacuated from these areas," added the source.
"The situation in southern Gaza is different"
According to the government's decision, the residents of the surrounding area are entitled to compensation for the evacuation from their homes until the end of February, when in early March the education system in the area is also supposed to resume its activities.
The source at the Ministry of Finance criticized the willingness expressed by Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Galant in a meeting with the heads of the authorities to postpone this date to the summer.
"The costs to the economy are enormous. If we continue the compensation payments to places where there is no security justification for this, they will also want to in the north and in other places. There is no end to the talk. There is a government decision and it must be adhered to," he said.
However, the source in the Treasury stressed that the situation of the settlements located in the south of the Gaza Strip is different, since the IDF has not yet achieved operational control there and has not finished destroying the Hamas infrastructure. Therefore, according to him, there is still justification for the evacuation of the residents and the payment of compensation.
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