Background
On the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, October 7, 2023, the Hamas terrorist organization attacked the State of Israel by launching thousands of rockets and infiltrating thousands of terrorists into IDF bases, cities, and localities in the Western Negev. The terrorists also reached large-scale music festivals held near the Gaza Strip. Thousands of terrorists carried out horrific acts of extreme brutality. 415 soldiers and members of the security forces were killed in the fighting, and 905 Israeli and foreign civilians were murdered in the attack. The terrorists committed shocking crimes against women, men, the elderly, and children, as well as against female and male soldiers. In addition, thousands of people were wounded; victims were subjected to severe sexual violence; and 251 women, men, and children were abducted and taken into the Gaza Strip. The terrorists also caused damage to property, demolishing, burning and destroying homes in the localities, as well as factories and equipment.
In several government decisions adopted since the October 7 terrorist attack (the terrorist attack), concerning localities located within up to 7 km from the Gaza border – within the jurisdictions of the Eshkol, Hof Ashkelon, Sdot Negev, and Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Councils, and the city of Sderot (the Tkuma Region authorities) – the Government recognized the severe harm caused to all aspects of life of their residents and affirmed its commitment to the rehabilitation, renewal, and development of the Tkuma Region and its population. The Government established the Tkuma Administration in order to lead the national effort to rehabilitate and develop the Tkuma Region and its residents, and to formulate the solutions required to restore normal and routine life for the region's localities and residents.
In early April 2025, the Law on the Extensive Rehabilitation of the Tkuma Region as a National Focus Area and Aid to Nearby Localities, 5785-2025, was enacted. The law stipulates that the Tkuma Region will be designated a national focus area for which the Government will act to promote accelerated and extensive rehabilitation.
The law defines "extensive rehabilitation" as actions across all areas of life aimed at enabling a full, rapid, and optimal return to normal life in the Tkuma Region, as well as measures to encourage growth and development in the region. These actions are to be undertaken for the benefit of the local authorities within the Tkuma Region and the localities and residents therein, including the provision of benefits, the allocation of resources, and investment in drivers of growth and development. The law further provides that the Government will allocate resources for assistance measures to be implemented by government ministries, in accordance with their statutory roles and authorities, for the benefit of local authorities in localities adjacent to the Tkuma Region and their residents. As of May 2025, more than 59,000 of the approximately 64,000 residents of the Tkuma Region (approximately 92%) had returned to their homes. This figure includes residents who returned to four of the ten localities that had sustained the most severe damage, where the critical renovation works required for residents' return had been completed.
Continue reading in the attached files