Israel: Gaza Border Communities Rebound, Adding 5,000 Residents Since October 7 Attack

Israel: Gaza Border Communities Rebound, Adding 5,000 Residents Since October 7 Attack

Responding to the death and destruction unleashed by Palestinian terrorist hordes on October 7, 2023, residents of southern Israel are giving a Zionist reply by rehabilitating survivors, rebuilding homes, and expanding communities.

As Israel marks 1,000 days since the October 7 massacre, most residents of southern communities have returned home, joined by over 5,000 new Israelis who have moved to the region since 2023.

Take the example of Kibbutz Kissufim, where terrorists murdered 20 residents and took an 85-year-old resident, Shlomo Mansour, hostage. “Nearly three years after the October 7 massacre, about 90% of surviving residents have returned to the Gaza border kibbutz, where children ride bikes again, the pool and pub have reopened and families are rebuilding homes, routines and a sense of belonging,” Israel’s Ynetnews observed in February.

Kissufim is no exception; this story of resilience is being witnessed across communities neighboring Gaza. According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, “Over 92% of the region’s residents are back home, joined by more than 5,000 new residents,” The Times of Israel reported Wednesday.

If Hamas intended to devastate and depopulate these communities, the strategy has backfired. Citing the statistical agency, The Times of Israel revealed that “in December [2025] … there were 65,000 residents in the region, compared to about 62,000 on the eve of the October 7 attack.” Israel plans to double the region’s population, raising it to “224,000 residents by 203o,” the news outlet added.

The Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported earlier this week that a thousand new homes are being built to accommodate the growing community:

The first phase of a major effort to rebuild Israel’s Gaza border communities has been launched, two and a half years after the October 7 attacks that devastated the region.

Jewish leaders from North America and around the world gathered at Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha this week for a cornerstone-laying ceremony marking the start of an ambitious construction project led by the Jewish Agency. The initiative, funded jointly by the Israeli government and Jewish philanthropic organizations, aims to build or rebuild 1,000 homes across the Western Negev.

The first 46 housing units will be constructed in Ein Hashlosha, one of the communities hardest hit during the attacks, where approximately 90 militants infiltrated and four residents were killed.

Major General (res.) Doron Almog, Chairman of the Jewish Agency, described the project as both a practical and symbolic step toward recovery.

“We start by building one thousand houses, expanding twenty kibbutzim, each with about fifty new homes,” Almog said. “A victory is continuing to build, continuing to flourish, bringing olim (Jewish immigrants) from around the world, and rehabilitating the south and north of Israel.”

Almog emphasized that the initiative is not only about building homes, but about restoring community life and national resilience. He also outlined a broader ambition to significantly increase the population of the Gaza border region, partly through encouraging Jewish immigration.

Hamas is rebuilding too–for terror and destruction

Gazans are rebuilding too. Hamas is recruiting Palestinian teenagers to replenish its depleted terrorist fighting force. According to the Jerusalem Post in January 2026, the Islamic terror group was “reasserting control in parts of the Gaza Strip by recruiting new members to its military wing and civilian institutions.” The newspaper added that “Hamas has been offering cash to teenagers to tempt them to join the group.”

The jihadist group has been trying to rebuild its terror tunnels. “Inside Hamas-controlled Gaza, there have been increasing reports recently of a resurgence, tunnel rehabilitation, training exercises,” the Israel National News reported Friday.

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.