The Tekuma Directorate, tasked with rehabilitating the Gaza border area in the wake of the deadly Hamas invasion on October 7, 2023, issued a progress report on Wednesday to mark 1,000 days since the massacre.

Some 1,200 people were slaughtered when thousands of terrorists poured over the border early in the morning. Thousands more were wounded, and 251 were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip. Of the latter, all have since been returned, either dead or alive.

The state directorate is operating with a NIS 17 billion ($5.7 billion) budget spread over five years, from 2024 to 2028.

By the end of 2025, it had spent NIS 11.6 billion ($3.9 billion), representing about 67% of the total. The current year’s budget stands at NIS 2.8 billion ($940 million).

Over 92% of the region’s residents are back home, joined by more than 5,000 new residents, the directorate reported.

It cited the Central Bureau of Statistics, which reported in December that there were 65,000 residents in the region, compared to about 62,000 on the eve of the October 7 attack.

The state aims to reach 124,000 residents by 2030.

More than 92 percent of Kibbutz Kissufim residents went home earlier this week, leaving their temporary residences in the Beersheba suburb of Omer.

At this stage, 43 out of the 47 communities evacuated after the massacre have returned home, with the kibbutzim Holit and Kfar Aza expected to start going back in August and Be’eri slated to commence the return at the end of December. Nir Oz, which only agreed on its financial package in August last year, will return sometime in 2027.

Aviad Friedman, who heads the directorate, said, “Alongside the memory, pain, and loss that have been with us since that day, we see the communities returning and renewing, the settlements being rebuilt, and the trust in the future of the Gaza Envelope.”

The directorate said it had already implemented over 1,000 projects.

The main projects it is focusing on for the current year include strengthening security, expanding services for community health and resilience, investing capital into agriculture, and offering incentives........

© The Times of Israel