Some 330,<> residents were evacuated or evacuated from their homes themselves during the war. Today (Thursday), it was decided that some of the residents of communities evacuated from the Gaza envelope who are now in hotels will move to other existing kibbutzim – absorbing kibbutzim. The Takuma Administration, established by the government at the outbreak of the war, is the body that will ensure the establishment of spaces for absorbing the evacuated communities, with the goal of absorbing them as entire communities. This is a temporary solution until the envelope area is rehabilitated – something that could take years and cost billions of shekels.
The residents who move to the kibbutzim will be housed in Caravillas, and as we published in Israel Hayom, this solution has already begun to be formulated by the Ministry of Housing and Construction. It should be noted that there is a great response from the kibbutzim that are willing to absorb the residents of the envelope, and the Revival Administration is currently trying to create the right mergers.
Evacuees from kibbutzim in the Gaza envelope receive assistance with clothes in one of the hotels on the Dead Sea, Photo: AFP
Gaza village two weeks after the beginning of the fighting // Photo: Shmuel Buchris
The next steps of dealing with the population evacuated from the envelope include, as stated, moving from hotels to temporary housing for the interim term, and then returning them to communities in the envelope area, which is supposed to undergo rehabilitation and expansion. It is estimated that most of the residents will want to return to their homes in the envelope, but even if there are those who are not interested, and that the state will have to provide them with alternative solutions.
The government understands that these communities must not remain empty, which would be perceived as a victory for Hamas, and therefore the concept is to make the envelope area more attractive while increasing the settlement enterprise.
In order to understand the immediate needs of each community, the Secretariat works with representatives of the authorities and localities and has appointed a head of the settlement liaison team - Gur Katz, a veteran of Kibbutz Nahal Oz. In the first stage, the Civil Administration paid two million shekels as an advance payment to each community on the first line – up to 7 kilometers, in order to fulfill the first basic needs of people who were evicted from their homes without personal belongings, credit cards, etc. Community leaders decide how the money will be spent.
Residents of the Eilat envelope, photo: Yehuda Ben Yattach
"You don't need safe rooms"
The communities evacuated from the Gaza envelope after undergoing an inferno are still severely traumatized, and many of them have lost training in the system. At this stage, most of the evacuees are in hotels, and the Takuma Administration is currently trying to meet the needs of this population. The goal is to coordinate the rehabilitation response, with an emphasis on the preferences of each and every community.
The Secretariat is a professional body established under the Prime Minister's Office, its initial budget is NIS 45 billion and is managed by Brigadier General (res.) Moshe Edri. The Civil Administration deals with the 15 communities up to seven kilometers from the Gaza border, of which about 600,700 residents were evacuated to hotels. In each kibbutz on the front line between there are <>-<> people.
All around is burnt, dusty and broken. The destruction at Kibbutz Be'eri, photo: Ariel Kahane
The Secretariat is comprised of various teams that coordinate the various needs of the population evacuated from the envelope – business and economic team, removal of barriers, people and community, construction and housing, and agriculture. Each team works in cooperation with about 3-4 government ministries related to its area of responsibility.
The heads of the evacuated communities say that the residents' feeling is still unprotected and that there is a need to strengthen and restore the residents' sense of security to the communities. Some even say that they do not want the new buildings to be built near the Gaza Strip to have safe rooms, because "if you achieve the goals of the war, you don't need them."
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