Israel announces plan to double its population in the Gaza Strip after Hamas attack in October 2023: $530 million investment

Israel approved a plan on Monday for the development of communities in the western Negev Desert , which, according to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, seeks to "double the population" of the towns on the outskirts of Gaza.

"We will open and host Ofakim, Netivot, Meerhavim, Eshkol, Sahar Negev, and Sdot Negev. We intend to develop industrial zones, promote innovation and research centers, and also establish the first Paralympic Village of its kind in Israel for athletes with disabilities," Netanyahu said during the cabinet meeting where the measure was approved, according to a statement from his office.

Smotrich asserted that the project has "the potential to double the population in these areas of the country" and allow for the creation of what he calls "the perimeter zone" of Gaza.

What is understood as the "perimeter zone" of the Strip is the entire area surrounding the enclave: up to approximately seven kilometers from the dividing line between Gaza and Israel, which includes numerous kibbutzim (agrarian communities) and the city of Sderot.

It receives this full name because it surrounds the enclave, being Gaza's first contact with Israel and the most susceptible to occasional rocket fire by the enclave's militias . It is the sector that suffered the most from the attack on October 7, 2023, when Gazan militiamen invaded Israeli territory.

Further afield, also in the western Negev, are the cities that the government's decision seeks to strengthen.

"The real victory will come when the few remaining enemies on the other side of the border look at the Israeli side and say: ' The region of the land we wanted to damage and eliminate is growing, flourishing, and developing, '" Smotrich said.

The government's plan seeks to allocate 1.8 million shekels (about $530,000).