Israel’s Cabinet voted on Sunday to establish a new community along the border with the Gaza Strip.
The future town, to be named Hanun, will be located in the Sdot Negev Region and eventually be inhabited by some 500 families.
“The establishment of the community is further evidence of the resilience of the [citizens living in the] ‘Gaza envelope’ and the power of the State of Israel. We’re proud to build up the Land of Israel and we’re proud to strengthen settlement in all parts of our land,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The new community had received preliminary approval back in 2020.
Cities, towns and villages in southern Israel, and especially those near the border, have been pummeled over the past 15 years by Palestinian rocket fire.
In 2005, Israel uprooted 8,600 Israelis living across 17 locales in Gaza as part of the disengagement from the enclave.
The Strip was soon thereafter conquered by Hamas in an internecine war waged against the Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah faction.
Since then, Israel has fought four wars against Hamas, in 2008-2009, 2012, 2014 and 2021, along with numerous smaller conflicts including against Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Late on Saturday night, Israeli air defense systems downed an unmanned aerial vehicle over the Gaza Strip.
The IDF did not provide further information regarding the operators of the drone, and notably did not conduct retaliatory strikes against Hamas military assets in the Gaza Strip, which has long been Jerusalem’s policy following rockets attacks and other violations of Israeli territory.
The incident comes after the IDF conducted strikes in Gaza overnight Wednesday in response to an earlier rocket fired by Palestinian terrorists. The IDF said that it struck a Hamas weapons manufacturing site and another facility used by the terrorist group to produce and store chemicals used in the missiles’ manufacture.
Twelve additional projectiles were fired from Gaza as Israeli fighter jets conducted the strikes, according to the military. Eleven exploded in open areas or mid-air, and one fell short in the Strip.
