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Gaza border communities

A new neighborhood in Kibbutz Be'eri, near the Gaza border, in southern Israel. (Kibbutz Be'eri)
July 1, 2026, 5:48 pm
Gaza border communities attract 5,000 new residents amid post-Oct. 7 rehabilitation
With 92% of Kibbutz Kissufim residents returning this week, Tekuma Directorate marks 1,000 days since deadly Hamas invasion, says over 1,000 projects completed across region
By Sue Surkes
Tending the sheep at the Lahav Farm. (Keshet Ben Muvchar)
May 28, 2026, 11:48 pm
Germinated by its founder’s trauma, growing farm network cultivates healing through work
Rimon Farms Association, which harnesses nature and agriculture to help PTSD sufferers and youth at risk, is now fundraising to seed two new programs to serve Gaza border area
By Sue Surkes
Defense Minister Israel Katz speaking during a ceremony returning a stone from the Western Wall that had been kept at HaKirya military base, to the Davidson Center in the Old City of Jerusalem, May 4, 2026. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)
May 27, 2026, 12:37 am
Katz said to reverse security funding cuts for Gaza border communities, after backlash
Reported decision comes after local leaders and security coordinators warned the cuts would severely undermine safety of frontline towns
By Stav Levaton and ToI Staff
A new neighborhood in Kibbutz Be'eri, near the Gaza border, in southern Israel. (Kibbutz Be'eri)
May 4, 2026, 2:23 pm
Survey finds fewer than 25% of Gaza border residents feel safe, 40% don’t trust state
But progress report by Tekuma Directorate, at halfway mark of five-year term, finds rising life satisfaction, optimism about future
By Sue Surkes
An undated photo showing destruction caused by Hamas terrorists when they infiltrated Kibbutz Nirim on October 7, 2023, near the Israel-Gaza border, southern Israel. (Kibbutz Movement Rehabilitation Fund)
April 9, 2026, 7:30 pm
Gaza border kibbutz redirects donations to help war-torn north
‘We feel what our brothers and sisters in the north are going through,’ says Kibbutz Nirim, which lost seven residents on October 7
By Sue Surkes
Illustrative: An empty classroom at a school in Safed, northern Israel, on August 31, 2025. (David Cohen/Flash90)
March 15, 2026, 6:48 pm
Several cities keep schools shut despite revised guidelines allowing them to reopen
Ashkelon, Ariel and Dimona decide conditions are not yet suitable to reopen their education systems, though the Home Front Command designated them as areas at lower risk
By Rossella Tercatin
A reinforced door is seen in the safe room of Shlomo and Hanna’le Margalit in Kibbutz Nir Oz on September 26, 2024. The Margalits stayed in this room for 12 hours during the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on southern Israel. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
February 26, 2026, 7:36 pm
Not waiting for state okay, 2 kibbutzim buy lockable, bulletproof doors for safe rooms
Armor-plated doors haven’t yet been approved by army for home use, but opting for survival over protocol, Nahal Oz and Kerem Shalom install them behind existing blast-resistant doors
By Sue Surkes
Family and friends attend a funeral at Kibbutz Nir Oz, in southern Israel, on October 23, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
February 10, 2026, 6:27 pm
Red tape, lack of coordination, delaying Gaza border rehab, state comptroller finds
Audit says funds sitting unused or going to waste due to bureaucracy, failure to consult with locals; state also criticized for not helping those looking to start over elsewhere
By Sue Surkes
People walk past a poster by artist TVBOY depicting President Donald Trump wearing a construction worker outfit and holding a placard reading in Spanish: My Gaza is your Gaza, is posted on a street in Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (Gregorio Borgia/AP PHOTO)
January 15, 2026, 3:17 pm
Daily Briefing Jan. 15: Day 832 – Trump wills Gaza plan forward, despite Hamas noncompliance
Zman Yisrael founding editor Biranit Goren discusses the US vis-a-vis Iran and Gaza; reporter Sue Surkes brings a Kibbutz Be’eri update, and looks at the use of feces as cattle feed
By Jessica Steinberg, Biranit Goren and Sue Surkes
The Dvori family home in Kibbutz Be'eri, southern Israel, January 13, 2026. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)
January 15, 2026, 10:17 am
Kibbutz Be’eri chooses single burned-out house to bear testimony to October 7
Home on community’s periphery belongs to the Dvori family, who were overseas when Hamas went on killing spree; other wrecked structures scheduled for demolition
By Sue Surkes
Dutch tulips brighten up the Sdot Negev Regional Authority compound. (Tekuma Directorate)
January 11, 2026, 2:09 pm
Over 50,000 Dutch tulips brighten Gaza border communities
Bulbs supplied by Christians for Israel, a Netherlands-based organization, which says flowers symbolize roots of Jewish people in the Land of Israel that cannot be pulled up
By Sue Surkes
The renovated dairy barn in Kibbutz Kissufim, near the Gaza border, after it was damaged in the October 7 massacre, July 28, 2025. (Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90)
December 10, 2025, 1:05 am
Resilience in rebuilding: Gaza border kibbutz Kissufim seeks to double population
As demolition of damaged buildings continues, new construction is set to begin, with aim of resettling evacuees and absorbing dozens of new families – especially those with babies
By Sue Surkes
Women from Kibbutz Nir Oz close to the Gaza border meet with HaGal Sheli for a surfing lesson on the Ashkelon coast, September 3, 2025. (Courtesy of HaGal Sheli)
December 4, 2025, 9:12 am
Riding the waves, Gaza border survivors meet fears head on by learning to surf
One in three survivors of the massacre at Nir Oz are surfing with HaGal Sheli, which has served thousands of Gaza border locals and recently opened a center at Zikim Beach
By Sue Surkes
New buildings will be erected on this barren plot at Kibbutz Holit, southern Israel, November 11, 2025. (Nir Caspi)
November 27, 2025, 10:02 am
Tiny Kibbutz Holit, a desert oasis gutted on Oct. 7, competes for attention – and donations
The once-lush community near south Gaza lost 10% of its residents in the Hamas onslaught, but with larger locales taking the limelight, funds are hard to find for the recovery it has begun
By Sue Surkes
Builders renovate a house in Israel's northern kibbutz of Hanita near the border with Lebanon on March 3, 2025 (Menahem KAHANA / AFP)
October 28, 2025, 6:12 am
Plans underway to merge staff overseeing recovery of towns bordering Gaza, Lebanon
Minister in charge says move will give particular boost to committee rehabilitating the north, which only has 10 employees, compared to 70 who sit on panel tasked with reviving the south
By Sue Surkes
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