Two and a half months after they were evacuated from their homes, the former residents of the Gaza settlement of Kfar Darom signed Thursday on an agreement to jointly move into a multi-story building in Ashkelon.
As of next week, the evacuees will gradually move from the Paradise hotel in Beer Sheva, where they were housed after the Gaza Strip evacuation, to a new apartment building which will serve as their new residence.
The final details were concluded Thursday afternoon in Ashkelon between the Kfar Darom residents, Prime Minister's Office Director-General Ilan Cohen, the Disengagement Administration, Housing Ministry representatives, Interior Ministry representatives, and Ashkelon Mayor Roni Mahatzari.
The populating of the empty building will begin next week, and until the end of the months all 60 families are expected to enter their new apartments.
The agreement brings an end to the very difficult period that the Kfar Darom evacuees have been going through. For about 80 days, the families lived in the hotel in relatively crowded conditions, without receiving basic services such as education for their children.
Thanks to internal organization and assistance from the community, the residents, whose settlement was the main focus of resistance during the Gaza pullout, managed to maintain a life routine, but it was clear that such a routine could not persist for long.
As part of the agreement, the State will purchase 26 out of the 60 apartment required for the Kfar Darom residents in the new building. The other 34 apartments will be rented by the Sela Administration.
Following heavy pressure on the part of the local authority on the building's construction contractor, the parties agreed upon a significantly cheaper price than the expense approved in the past for the Kfar Darom populating project – NIS 15 million (approximately USD 3.3 million), compared to NIS 40 million (approximately 8.9 million) required in the past.
Representatives of the Kfar Darom residents, who took part in the meeting, welcomed the agreement.
The parties also agreed that during the next three weeks, the Ashkelon Municipality will renovate an old school building, which will serve as a special school for the Kfar Darom children. The building is approximately 2 kilometers away from the apartment building, which is located near the sea. The Disengagement Administration and the Ashkelon Municipality agreed to organize daily transportation for the children.