These days mark 11 months since the outbreak of the war. Since October 7th, 1,635 Israelis have been murdered and killed, and 109 hostages are still held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. This brief paper presents information and data on the residents of the Northern and Southern communities and the casualties of the war.
Residents of the North and South
As of August 21, 2024, approximately 143,000 residents have been evacuated from their homes — some 74,600 are from communities in the South and 68,500 from communities in the North. So far, about 62,000 of the evacuees have returned to their homes, some to communities that are still under security restrictions. About 17,000 of the evacuees have been staying in hotels for over ten months, and about 64,000 are in other housing solutions outside their home communities. Figure 1 presents the current status of the evacuee population, divided by Northern and Southern districts and the current location of the residents.
Job seekers
The war situation in the districts of the North and South, alongside the evacuation of many communities in these areas, has led to a significant increase in unemployment and the number of job seekers. In the early months of the war, there was a sharp rise in the number of job seekers nationally, but in recent months there has been a decline, and today their number is similar to the pre-war situation. However, in the evacuated communities and conflict zones, the rate of job seekers remains high. Figure 2 presents the number of job seekers in Israel, divided by the Northern and Southern districts, compared to the national average. The figure shows that even before the war, the rate of job seekers in those areas was relatively high. Across all districts, there is a trend of increase followed by a decrease in the rate of job seekers, but the rate in the Northern district is higher relative to both other districts and to the pre-war situation.
It is important to note that the North and South include a wide variety of communities, some of which have not been government-evacuated and are not considered to be in a war zone. Figure 3 presents a breakdown of the number of job seekers in the cities of Sderot and Kiryat Shmona, many of whose residents were evacuated for an extended period of time. In both cities, the rise in the number of job seekers due to the war is evident, but it is clearly more significant in Kiryat Shmona (from the start of the war). In recent months, there has been a downward trend in the number of job seekers in Sderot, compared to a continued upward trend in Kiryat Shmona. It should be noted that, in gender terms, the increase in job seekers in these cities is higher among women than men, unlike the national level, where there is no significant difference between men and women in the number of job seekers due to the war.
Casualties of the war
The war has also caused significant physical and psychological injuries. The following are some statistics on war-related hospitalizations, including soldiers. As of August 22, 2024, more than 17,000 people have been hospitalized, about 100 of whom are still in acute care (including emergency rooms). In a breakdown of hospitalizations by community (not shown in the figure), the city of Ashkelon has the highest number of hospitalizations — 1,287 residents of the city were hospitalized due to the war. Tel Aviv ranks second, with 839 war-related hospitalizations. It should be noted that out of the 17,000 hospitalized, about 14,000 were admitted in a non-acute condition.
An analysis of hospitalization data by month shows that the highest number was in October — more than 6,000 people were admitted to hospitals. In the three months following, the number of new hospitalizations added each month gradually decreased, from about 3,000 in November to about 1,500 in January. Since then, the number of new hospitalizations has been a few hundred per month.
Regarding the burden on hospitals, it is particularly important to mention the hospitals in the South — Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon has admitted about 5,000 of the hospitalized since the beginning of the war, and Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva has admitted about 3,000. The hospitals in Nahariya, Safed, and Tiberias have together admitted about 2,500 patients.
Nir Kaidar, Director General of the Taub Center, says: “More than 80,000 residents have been displaced for more than ten months, with no idea of when they will return to their homes and their lives. The unusual unemployment among evacuees requires a variety of government responses immediately as well as a comprehensive employment plan to strengthen these communities at the end of the war.”
The Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel is an independent, non-partisan socioeconomic research institute. The Center provides decision makers and the public with research and findings on some of the most critical issues facing Israel in the areas of education, health, welfare, labor markets and economic policy in order to impact the decision-making process in Israel and to advance the well-being of all Israelis.
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