North Americans hand out grants to students near Gaza
1,300 academic scholarships worth around $1,375 apiece awarded to Israelis studying within range of Hamas rockets

Academic scholarships funded by the Jewish Federations of North America and individual Jewish federations were awarded to 1,300 students who live in communities near the border with Gaza.
The Jewish Agency for Israel presented the scholarships, which came from $2 million in donations, on Monday in Sderot.
The students, who live in Sderot and other southern Israeli communities that came under attack during last summer’s conflict with Gaza, attend academic institutions in southern Israel. Each student will receive approximately $1,375.
“This is a significant contribution to the strength of Israeli communities in southern Israel, the growth of which is the most Zionist response to Hamas terror,” Rany Trainin, deputy chairman of the executive of The Jewish Agency, said in a statement.
Palestinian terrorists fired over 4,500 rockets at Israel’s towns and communities during the course of the 50-day long Operation Protective Edge in which the IDF battled Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The operation aimed to stem the rocket fire as well as destroy a network of tunnels, dug under the border, that Hamas gunmen used to infiltrate Israel and carry out deadly terror attacks.
Sderot, a town that lies close to the border with Gaza, as well as many other southern communities in the area, bore the brunt of the rocket attacks.
The IDF’s Iron Dome anti-rocket system shot down many but not all of the incoming rockets.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.