Approximately 125,000 residents have evacuated their homes. “We recommend that they stay in hotels until the end of the year.”
Major General Yoram Laredo, Head of the National Emergency Authority, described the evacuation plans since the beginning of the war, emphasizing, “We are working to implement the government’s decision and provide the necessary resources.”
Major General Yoram Laredo, the head of the National Emergency Authority (RAHAL), conducted a briefing Thursday and stated that since the beginning of the war, around 125,000 residents from the north and south have evacuated to hotels and guest rooms funded by the state.
He stressed that the authority recommends that the evacuees stay there until the end of the year, saying, “We are working to implement the government’s decision and provide the necessary resources.”
Evacuation plans began being implemented from the start of the war
At the beginning of his remarks, Laredo said, “Starting on October 7, we began implementing evacuation plans, the goal of which is to remove citizens from areas subject to military or security coercion. The first evacuees were the communities around the Gaza Strip (0-4 km) in an operational process by the Search and Rescue Division. They were evacuated from there and placed in hotels. This evacuation was carried out under immediate military coercion.
A week later, we began further evacuation operations, under security coercion, in communities located 4-7 km from the border, and the city of Sderot followed. The second stage of evacuations was also under immediate military coercion, and they included settlements within 0-2 km in the north, the city of Kiryat Shmona, and 14 other settlements in the north. All these communities are included in the government’s plans, and in total, about 125,000 residents have evacuated.”
Regarding the Tourism Ministry, he said, “It has entered the mission and taken on the management of all the accommodations. The Tourism Ministry is on the verge of completing the process of transferring contracts, some of which were scattered among the Interior Ministry, the Defense Ministry, and local authorities.
The last returnees will be transferred to the Tourism Ministry on November 2. The person who manages the contacts with hotels will supervise the rooms, set the standards, and conduct further negotiations with additional accommodations. The Tourism Ministry is working actively. Except for the residents of the Gaza periphery and Sderot, the Tourism Ministry is responsible for everything.
The National Emergency Authority receives from the Tourism Ministry a situation picture of the occupied rooms and the vacant rooms to prepare for further evacuation tasks if necessary, but currently, there is no need for that. The evacuees are currently in hotels, and we recommend that they stay there until the end of the year, and we will work to advance the government’s decision and provide the necessary resources.”
“At the same time, a mechanism has been created that gives the representative of communities eligible for evacuation the option to choose alternative housing for themselves. A compensation mechanism is established for the eligible population, enabling those eligible to choose between going to a hotel assigned to them by the state or choosing alternative housing on their own, such as a housing unit, family accommodation, AIRBNB, or any other solution that suits them.”
“As a result of a request by the mayor of Ashkelon, the government decided to allow him to evacuate about 70,000 of his residents, including those lacking shelters, public shelters, and various affluent populations.
This is being managed directly with the Director-General of the Tourism Ministry and the municipality. At this stage, populations lacking family shelters and various affluent populations were evacuated from the city.
The Tourism Ministry is responsible for accumulating the rooms, and as more rooms become available, the eligible residents of Ashkelon will choose the method that suits them – evacuation to a hotel assigned to them or compensation and finding housing on their own.”
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