Tent city for displaced Israelis being built in Ramat Gan

(JNS) — A tent city is being built in Ramat Gan to house some of the more than 200,000 Israelis internally displaced by the war with terrorists from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

The Tel Aviv suburb’s Kfar Maccabiah resort complex will provide temporary shelter for 1,000 people evacuated from northern communities under fire from the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon, Amir Gissin, the CEO of Maccabi World Union, told Israel’s Channel 12.

Families that evacuated southern Israeli communities close to the Gaza border are already staying at the 80-acre compound, which includes two hotels, a convention and events center and a sports club.

The evacuations began after Hamas terrorists from Gaza rampaged through western Negev communities starting on Oct. 7, murdering at least 1,400 people, wounding more than 5,100 others and taking 222 captives back to the Strip. Terrorists in Gaza have fired over 7,000 rockets at Israel since Oct. 7.

Gissin added that the number of people staying in the tents will be capped to ensure that everyone can reach bomb shelters in the case of rocket attacks. He added that the tents would keep the refugees dry during the winter months.

The Red Sea resort city of Eilat also plans to erect a tent city to house evacuees. The hotels there are full, at an unprecedented 100% of their capacity.

Around 100,000 of the evacuees were instructed to leave their towns and villages in the north and south by the government, while the other half left on their own initiative, the government said.