The military said that certain Israelis are permitted to return to border towns close to the Gaza Strip.
Israel's Home Front Command said Monday that some Israelis who fled their communities near the Gaza border after Oct. 7 can start to return to their homes.
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As the three-month-long combat in the north comes to an end, reports indicate that Israel's Home Front Command is getting ready to permit certain citizens who resided in border villages close to the Gaza Strip to return home.
Following the October 7 attack, in which Hamas militants infiltrated Israel, slaughtered 1,200 people, and abducted 240 more into Gaza, Israelis living within 4 miles of Gaza were evacuated. The areas most severely affected were two to four miles from Gaza.
Some have since returned, but many have stayed away as fighting continues, being hosted at hotels or at kibbutz guesthouses, per the Times of Israel.
Citing the Home Front Command, the Times reported Monday that those at least 2.5 miles from Northern Gaza – where the IDF says it has decimated Hamas – will start returning to their homes, though no timeline was offered.
It follows the reopening of the rabbinical seminary, the Max and Ruth Scwartz Hesder Yeshiva in Sderot last week.
The Times' report comes as the Israeli military confirmed it was pulling thousands of troops out of the Gaza Strip, a step that could clear the way for a new long-term phase of lower-intensity fighting against Hamas.
In its announcement, the army said that five brigades, or several thousand troops, would be taken out of Gaza in the coming weeks. Some will return to bases for further training or rest, while many older reservists will go home. The war has taken a toll on the economy by preventing reservists from going to their jobs, running their businesses or returning to university studies.
