The Israeli government evacuated more than 65,000 people from the “Gaza envelope” area under emergency regulations (Al Jazeera)

Occupied Jerusalem -

Many Israeli families who were evacuated from settlements and “Gaza envelope kibbutzim” and the Western Negev with the start of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” battle, express their desire not to return to the “cover areas,” in light of the continuing fighting and the failure of the Israeli army to “eliminate the movement.” agitation".

The Israeli government had taken a quick decision to evacuate all residents of the 25 kibbutzim and settlements adjacent to the Gaza Strip, following the surprise attack launched by the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas” on October 7, 2023.

Pursuant to the decision taken in accordance with the emergency regulations, the area located 0 to 7 kilometers from the borders of the Gaza Strip was evacuated, and the number of those evacuated reached 65 thousand people, and another 60 thousand people were evacuated from the border towns with Lebanon in the Upper Galilee, due to Mutual bombing between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.

In addition to these official data acknowledged by the Israeli Ministry of Security, tens of thousands of residents of the Western Negev, Sderot, and Ashkelon were displaced on their own initiative and without the instructions of the Home Front requiring them to do so, as the population of this area close to the enclave is more than 200 thousand.

Cost of evacuation and evacuation

In previous years, it was assumed that the Israeli government would prepare a special system to evacuate tens or perhaps hundreds of thousands of Israelis from the border areas to other towns, in the event of a state of emergency being implemented if war broke out.

Indeed, a government plan was prepared and cost tens of millions of shekels, but it was shelved. Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper's economic affairs correspondent, Gad Lior, says: "When the moment of truth came, it became clear that the plan, known as the 'Civil Hotel', was no longer as required and had completely collapsed."

Lior adds: “The evacuation of tens of thousands of residents was carried out to hundreds of hotels and accommodations, and not to public institutions, community centers and schools as planned, and the original plan was canceled once, and this is how things went wrong until today.”

The reporter pointed out that the cost of a family of 6 people staying in a hotel room amounted to approximately 45,000 shekels ($12,000) per month, while a family with two children received allowances worth 18,000 shekels ($4,800) per month if they were not residing in a hotel. .

According to data from the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, there are about 56,000 hotel rooms in Israel, and about 40,000 of them are located in areas far from combat zones, and residents have been evacuated to them, as major hotel companies expect their business results to be harmed by the war.

What is difficult to predict what is coming is that hotel owners do not know how long the displaced people from the border areas in the “Gaza envelope” and the Upper Galilee will remain in hotels, as the Israeli Ministry of Tourism stated in a brief statement that “there are displaced people who have been allocated places for temporary residence because their homes are existing.” “But it is not clear how long they will actually stay in hotels, and there are those whose homes have been destroyed and are looking for permanent solutions.”

Repatriation plan

While government ministries are busy with the plan to return the evacuees to their homes, the ministries have so far refrained from answering the question about what they will do with those who do not want to return to the areas of the cover and the western Negev.

In order to implement the "Return Plan", the Israeli government established the "Tacoma" District and allocated it to the reconstruction of the "Gaza envelope", allocated a budget of 18 billion shekels (5 billion dollars) to it for a period of 5 years, and made its mission to pave the way for the return of the evacuees.

According to preliminary data documented by the economic newspaper “De Marker”, and also based on talks with local communities in the south, about 20% of Israeli families, especially those with young children, who have been evacuated since the seventh of last October, decided Do not return to the “cover areas” and look for alternative housing in other towns far from the combat areas.

Fear of the future

Merav Arlozorov, economic affairs analyst at De Marker newspaper, believes that there is a desire among adults and young people to return, while families with children believe that they are not interested in returning and are looking for stability in alternative areas.

Arlozorov explained, “In light of the continuation of the fighting, the strengthening of the Israelis’ convictions of the army’s failure to overthrow Hamas’ rule and eliminate its military arsenal, and the absence of a clear government plan to return those who were displaced and rebuild the enclave, even families who express their willingness to return are finding it difficult to adapt to the situation, especially "As time goes by, it becomes more difficult and ambiguous."

The economic affairs analyst made a comparison between the Israeli governments’ dealings with the evacuation of settlers from the “Gush Katif” settlement bloc in Gaza and from Sinai, and the current government’s dealings with the evacuation of Israeli families from the “Gaza envelope,” saying that “the current government does not depend on benefits, payment of money, and compensation.” To motivate you to return to the cover.

In 2007, the cost of dismantling the settlement complex in Gaza amounted to more than 10 billion shekels ($2.7 billion), of which 6.5 billion shekels was allocated as a civilian cost for the evacuation of 1,800 settler families who were living there, meaning that more than half of the cost went directly into the pockets of the settlers. Evacuees.

Arlozorov says: “Each family evacuated from Gush Katif during the disengagement received an average amount of 2 million shekels ($550,000), believing that the government is obligated to continue supporting the settlement project and showing generosity towards the evacuees,” and she adds: “ But the Israeli government, in light of the war on Gaza, is afraid to show excessive generosity towards the people evacuated from the south and the Upper Galilee, and refrains from setting a policy towards families who will not want to return to their homes in the kibbutzim.”

Arlozorov says: “Unlike the evacuation of Sinai or Gush Katif, where the settlers had no place to return to, today’s displaced persons from the Gaza envelope and the border settlements with Lebanon have a place to return, and the state’s highest interest is in the return of residents to their homes in the border areas, as not returning "It will appear as a defeat."

Source: Al Jazeera