A failure to define the border of the “Tkuma” (rebirth) region has led to a delay in the funding of rehabilitation projects to the tune of NIS 5 billion, according to the interim findings of a report by State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman on Western Negev rehabilitation in the wake of October 7, released Monday.
In October 2023, the government defined the region eligible for rehabilitation funding following the devastating Hamas attack as covering an area of up to 7 km. from the border with Gaza. Two months later, however, it was decided that the borders would be reexamined by the Prime Minister’s Office in cooperation with the finance and defense ministries.
So far, the rehabilitation work had not yet been completed, and a new definition of the Tkuma region had not been reached, the comptroller stressed. This inability to define the area had frozen the transfer of NIS 5 billion allocated for the region’s development. Until October 2024, when it was decided that the definition of the area would remain unchanged from its definition in October 2023.
It was also decided that the government would examine the possibility of using Tkuma region funds to assist in rehabilitating nearby communities that were also harmed in the October 7 attack, such as Ofakim.
While the decision regarding this was originally slated to be received within 60 days, the municipality of Ofakim has not yet had any answers, the report said, highlighting that the city is struggling to meet even the needs of residents who were harmed in the attack.
Efforts to move residents from kibbutzim
The report also said that efforts to move residents from three of the kibbutzim attacked by Hamas on October 7 to interim housing communities would finally be realized in February 2025 – over a year after the attack, despite Tkuma Directorate’s NIS 1.3 billion investment.
As of November 2024, a neighborhood in Kibbutz Ruhama for the evacuated residents of Kibbutz Holit had not yet been completed, and the process had been met with bureaucratic and operational difficulties, the comptroller stressed. Much of the infrastructure had yet to be set up, and there were many flaws in the housing, as well as a lack of community buildings. The report also noted that the residents of Holit were only absorbed into community housing as late as October 2024, after the school year had begun.
Similarly, by November 2024, housing at Kibbutz Hatzerim for the evacuated members of Kibbutz Be’eri had not been completed, and many members did not have housing solutions at Hatzerim, the report noted, calling attention to some 80 members of Be’eri who preferred to return to Be’eri rather than continuing to live in hotels far away.
Reconstruction of the neighborhood had also been met with many issues, the report stressed, adding that evacuees were forced to live in buildings where the electricity and plumbing were not checked.
In one instance, a house for evacuees from Be’eri caught fire due to an electrical problem, the comptroller’s office noted.
As of February 2025, there are still issues surrounding housing, and there is no clear division of responsibility between the organizations involved, which delays solving problems impacting the evacuees’ daily lives.Similar problems exist for evacuated residents of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, the report added.
These challenges “hinder the residents’ ability to rehabilitate themselves both individually and communally in the wake of the difficult events they have experienced,” the report noted.
It also underlined the impact on schoolchildren, explaining that due to delayed construction and housing solutions, parents, at times, had three choices: drive their children from hotels near the Dead Sea to schools often 100 km. away; live in temporary housing not designed for families, or move around between several housing solutions.
The comptroller stressed that these issues indicated the need for a national plan for temporary housing in disaster situations.
In the report, an evacuee expressed a general sentiment, “For me, I haven’t started my rehabilitation. My children haven’t started theirs. I’m not at home, and I don’t know where I am... If the whole process had been different, then yes, we would somehow have managed to be in some kind of recovery process and be much more prepared later for the return.”
The report highlighted that the staff of the tireless work of the staff of the Tkuma Directorate, whose sense of duty was focused on helping the evacuees despite all the issues addressed in the report.
The Knesset Economic Affairs Committee met on Monday to prepare for the second and third reading of a bill addressing expanded rehabilitation for the Tkuma region.
At the meeting, heads of local councils from the South protested general budget cuts that are set to impact Tkuma too. Committee chair MK David Bitan insisted that the rehabilitation bill would be for the good of the councils – and requested that the government hold another discussion on whether or not cuts should include Tkuma.