Report: NIS 50 million project to bolster Sderot’s defenses against attack approved

A NIS 50 million ($13.3 million) project aimed to better protect Sderot against attack from Gaza was approved today by the IDF, Channel 12 reports.

Parts of Sderot are less than 2 kilometers from the Gaza border. Invading Israel on October 7, Hamas terrorists massacred at least 50 civilians and 20 police officers in the city.

The project includes the construction of a five-kilometer barrier along Road 34, west of Sderot. The TV report says vaguely that this is intended to “delay” terrorist infiltrators. A similar barrier was announced in January 2023, when it was presented as aiming to obscure potential targets in the city from anti-tank missiles fired by Gaza terror groups.

The newly approved Sderot project provides for barriers and gates at the city’s entrances and exits. It also envisages bolstering the city’s civil defense squad from a 20-strong force to one numbering 108 members.