Defense Ministry, IDF sign NIS 1.2 billion deal for over 10,000 bomb shelters in homes near Lebanon border

The Defense Ministry and IDF Home Front Command sign a NIS 1.2 billion deal with the treasury to install over 10,000 bomb shelters in homes near the Lebanon border.

The effort to build bomb shelters in the northern towns — dubbed Shield of the North — began several years ago, though it has seen limited progress.

As part of the agreement, the treasury and Defense Ministry will allocate NIS 875 million to allow residents living in 28 communities at a distance of one to five kilometers from the Lebanon border to independently build a bomb shelter in their homes, with a grant of up to NIS 132,000.

The grants, for at least 10,000 bomb shelters, will begin in April 2025, the Defense Ministry says.

Separately, the ministry says its Engineering and Construction Division has begun work to build 1,700 bomb shelters in homes in 21 communities adjacent to the border, up to one kilometer away.

“In the last few days, the procedure for obtaining the permits and recruiting contractors was completed. The works will start in the near future,” the ministry says.

According to the ministry, hundreds of bomb shelters have been built in homes in recent months, amid the fighting in Lebanon.

The reinforcement plan comes after years of promises to improve the shelters in northern communities, which were regularly found to be lacking, despite the high probability that these areas would be hit by barrages from Hezbollah.

A 2020 state comptroller report found that nearly 30 percent of Israeli citizens do not have access to functioning bomb shelters near their homes, including over a quarter of a million people who live near the borders with the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.