Israel presents pilot program to protect communities bordering Gaza

The Ministry of Defense announced this Tuesday a plan to strengthen the protection of communities bordering Gaza in the wake of the October 7 attack, in which Palestinian terrorists from the Strip murdered almost 1.200 Israelis and kidnapped another 251, most of them in these locations.

Together with the Tekuma Authority, the body in charge of rehabilitating southern Israel, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Hof Ashkelon regional council, the ministry intends to "strengthen physical defenses, improve local rapid response teams and integrate advanced defense technological solutions" in these territories.

With a budget of 715 million shekels - about 174 million euros - the authorities intend, among other things, to improve the fences and gates that protect the kibbutzim - collectivist agrarian communities - or to deploy drones and specialized civil communication networks connected to the rapid response teams, regional councils and IDF command centers to control these territories.

The pilot of this project was tested yesterday in a simulation, according to the ministry.

"We are applying an operational concept with a strong civilian focus to restore confidence and security among residents," the director general of the Ministry of Defense, General Eyal Zamir, said at the event.

On October 7, Hamas unleashed the war with an attack against Israel that included the launching of thousands of rockets and the infiltration of about a thousand troops who massacred some 1.200 people and kidnapped another 251, especially in the towns and agrarian communities that They are located a few kilometers from the border with the Gaza Strip.

Around 70% of the 57.000 displaced people have already returned to their homes, but the rest remain in subsidized hotels or other nearby communities, waiting for their homes to be rebuilt.

In some of the kibbutzim closest to the border with the Strip, such as those of Beeri, Kfar Aza, Nir Oz or Kerem Shalom, the IDF still does not allow the return of its residents, either due to insecurity - the Palestinian terrorist organizations of the Strip continue to fire rockets- or because they remain uninhabitable.

At the beginning of May, the director of the Tekuma Administration, Moshe Edri, assured Channel 12 that the inhabitants of Beeri, Kfar Aza and Nir Oz will not be able to return to their homes for "two or three years."

Although much smaller than in October, Palestinian terrorist organizations inside Gaza continue to occasionally fire rockets across the border, although most are intercepted or land in open areas. Aurora and EFE