From the Liveblog of
Monday, October 9, 2023
Large cities announce special war footing, offer psychological help
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
Jerusalem
The Jerusalem Municipality sets up a dedicated team to support families in the city with loved ones who have been killed or injured or are missing.
Social workers will offer emotional help and connect the families with relevant services. The team can be contacted directly at 02-5406971 or via the municipal hotline on 106.
Members of the general public needing psychological help are advised to call the hotline.
The Beitar soccer team’s training field in the west of the city, near Shaare Zedek Medical Center, has been earmarked to receive helicopters evacuating wounded from the Gaza area, and has begun to operate volunteer-run activities for the children of medical staff to free up doctors, nurses and others to carry out life-saving work. Lists are being compiled by HMOs and the city’s hospitals.
The city is also preparing for an uptick in funerals. The moment it receives word about a fatality from the city, it will send municipal staff with the police to inform the families. With the help of the National Insurance Service and Interior Ministry, it will help organize funerals and, where necessary, provide transportation and refreshments.
A list of open public bomb shelters can be found here in English.
In partnership with the Home Front Command and local community centers, the municipality is also offering couples whose wedding plans have to be canceled at the last minute because of the war the opportunity to tie the knot in a protected space.
Further details about war-related arrangements can be found here, in English.
Guidance and red alerts from the Home Front Command can be found here, in English.
Tel Aviv
The municipality of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, periodically under fire from Gaza since the war started, reports that it is housing 92 families evacuated from the war-torn south of the country in hotels.
It is calling on anyone in need of psychological help to phone *9106, the municipal hotline at 106+, or to reach out via the city’s internet application.
It is appealing to emergency workers to deposit their children in kindergarten through grade three at childcare centers being set up at various schools.
And it is inviting parents stuck at home to register for online activities for their children being run by city libraries.
Beersheba
The Beersheba city council in southern Israel is coordinating with the town of Mevasseret Zion, just outside of Jerusalem, to help get residents of Gaza border towns out of the war-torn region.
Mevasseret Zion residents who wish to host evacuees can fill out this form.
Families from the south looking to be hosted can register here.
