You won't believe how many residents have returned to their homes in Israel's north 

According to data from Israel's National Digital Directorate, which operates under the direction of Tnufa Latsafon, as of today (Thursday), more than 29,000 evacuees have returned to their homes, constituting about 42% of all residents of the north who were evacuated at the beginning of the war (about 67,500 people).

The data indicate a significant acceleration in the rate of return in recent days. Last Thursday (February 27), the number of returnees was only about 19,000, meaning that within one week, about 10,000 residents returned to their homes. Tnufa Latsafon expects this trend to continue and even strengthen towards March 9, the date of the opening of educational institutions in the north.

According to the Ynet report, the National Insurance Institute and the Ministry of Finance have reached understandings on the terms of the assistance that will be given to residents of the north starting from their return home, with the goal of ending the population grants of 200 shekels per adult and 100 shekels per child – which have been given so far for each day of evacuation. Alternatively, the residents will receive one-time grants to encourage the return home and repair the damage caused by leaving.

The first grant is a one-time return grant, which is intended for all evacuees who will now be able to return to the communities from which they were evacuated. The evacuees will be able to choose not to return to their homes in the evacuated communities now, and to extend their stay in the housing solutions to which they were evacuated, until July at the end of the school year. But they will no longer receive population grants.

Residents who choose to continue living in state-funded hotels or apartments will have their grant amount reduced according to the length of their stay until July 7, 2025.

The maximum grant amount is NIS 15,360 per adult and NIS 7,680 per child for those who complete their stay in hotels by March 7 of this year, or for those who have not stayed at all in state-funded places. For those who live in hotels, the amount will be gradually reduced according to the later departure dates, up to a minimum of NIS 1,920 per adult and NIS 960 per child for those who leave by June 1. Evacuees who choose to stay in state-funded hotels and airbnb apartments until july 7 will not receive the return grant at all.