The government has confirmed: the residents of the Otaf who evacuated to hotels will be able to extend their stay until August 15

The Prime Minister’s Office authorized the Takuma Directorate to extend the evacuation of the residents of the Gaza Strip who live up to 7 km from the border for an additional month and a half until August 15. The decision, which the directorate will implement, will allow the extension of the stay in hotels and self-evacuation centers for residents of the Gaza Strip who were evacuated from their homes with the beginning of the war and were supposed to return to their homes at the beginning of July.

The government’s decision constitutes an authorization of the Takuma administration to promote the extension of the evacuation, so the final decision for this has not yet been made – and will probably be approved in the coming days. According to the decision document, the extension period, which is expected to be about five weeks, will not be financed with an additional budget beyond the 14 billion NIS already approved for the directorate, but will be offset from other budget items. Among other things, the return grants for residents who have not yet returned, and the budgeting for the temporary solutions (the temporary housing of some of the kibbutzim that were vacated for permanent housing solutions) will be affected.

The Ministry of Finance estimated at the end of February that the cost of evacuating 70,000 residents of the Otaf was about 600 million NIS per month. According to a statement from the Takuma administration, so far about 70% of the residents of the region have returned to their homes. The estimated cost of extending the evacuation is about 180 million NIS, which is going to be deducted from the compensation and investment programs for the residents of the surrounding area.

“The decision on the extension is good news that comes after 8 nerve-wracking months,” Liat Gini, a resident of Kibbutz Maflisim and leader of the team to find an interim solution for the community, which she is requesting for the coming year, told ‘Daver’. According to her, the heads of the councils and its revival stood by their side throughout the period requesting an extension: “This answer is very important, the head of the administration, Moshe Edri, is a reliable and serious man who is a unique anchor for us in the great chaos and we also thank our council head Yossi Keren for his support and efforts The mighty he invested.”

Levellers, along with a number of other kibbutzim in the northern Gaza Strip, contacted the administration at the end of May demanding to extend their stay outside the kibbutz, due to the renewal of fighting in the area. According to the wording of the decision, the Directorate will be entitled to extend the evacuation in all localities where martial law has not been declared even beyond the set date, but this will only be by special decisions to be determined between the Directorate and the localities and with funding from the existing budget.

In a gradual process that began on October 8, the State of Israel decided on the complete evacuation of all settlements in the Gaza Envelope, about 55 in number, including the city of Sderot, which are located up to 7 km from the border. The residents were evacuated to hotels or organized evacuation centers, or alternatively received Grants from the state to rent apartments independently. 12 settlements that are in combat areas or have been severely damaged are on a special plan without a binding return date. The last of them, Nir Yitzhak, was recognized by the latest decision as a settlement that cannot be returned to at the moment and its residents will continue to receive support from the state in finding a temporary housing solution. .

The evacuation period was extended several times, and at the end of February it was decided that it would not last beyond July 7, when residents who chose to return by that date could receive a special grant after which they would no longer be able to request evacuation a second time. Despite the request of some localities in the northern Gaza Strip to allow residents who have already returned to evacuate a second time – the latest government decision does not address the issue.