Nearly 70,000 Israelis have been displaced from northern Israel to the center, over the past months, on the eve of the expansion of the conflict between Tel Aviv and the Lebanese Hezbollah.
While Israeli media indicate that the number exceeds 120,000, the result shows increasing pressure on the Israeli housing market, due to the high intensity of demand, especially in central cities.
The Knesset Research and Information Center estimates that about 70,000 people were evacuated from northern border settlements as of last August.
The evictees benefit from government housing benefits that began a few months ago, which amount to 200 shekels ($53) per day for an adult and 100 shekels ($26.5) per day for a child.
The family of five receives monthly aid of about 20,000 shekels ($5,300), an amount fueled by sharp increases in the prices of homes sold or rented outside the border settlements with Lebanon.
The Knesset estimates that the increase in rents has reached 20% in some cities, while housing prices have increased by 15% during the current year.
Exploitation of real estate developers
There has been an increase in the number of residents moving temporarily or permanently from the northern settlements on the border with Lebanon to the central cities, led by Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
This move has led to a restructuring of population concentration areas within Israel, at least temporarily, leading to a decline in the supply of empty apartments, available for sale or rent.
With the support provided by the government to the displaced population from the north, they are indifferent to the extent of the increase in housing prices, which has led to the emergence of cases of exploitation by landlords or real estate developers, according to the Knesset.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Monday that the goal of the Israeli escalation against southern Lebanon is to return the residents of the north to their homes, after the rate of displaced persons increased and the cost to the Israeli Ministry of Finance increased.
Since last Monday morning, the Israeli army has been launching the most violent, extensive and intensive attack on Lebanon since the beginning of the confrontations with Hezbollah on October 8, 2023 and since the July 2006 war; which has resulted in hundreds of dead and wounded and tens of thousands of displaced people according to the latest data from the Lebanese authorities.
In contrast, sirens continue to sound in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon, after Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets at military sites and settlements.
Settlements adjacent to Gaza
Since the events of October 7, most of the settlements adjacent to the Gaza Strip remain closed military zones, while the majority of settlers reside in hotels and apartments in Eilat (south on the Red Sea) and in some central cities.
The number of displaced persons from the settlements adjacent to Gaza exceeds 130,000 settlers, and these people either receive subsidies from the Israeli government to pay for housing, or the government pays the landlords, especially the hotels.
While in the first months of the war, Israelis were renting houses that included fortified rooms, the increased pressure on real estate made them turn a blind eye to this feature available in most apartments inside Israel.
Palestinian labor
In addition to the displacement from the north and south and its impact on housing prices and rents, the absence of more than 90,000 Palestinian workers in the construction sector since October 7 has heightened the risk of a real estate shortage crisis.
The Israeli Contractors Association estimates that the real estate market before the war suffered from a shortage of 40,000 workers, while today it suffers from a shortage of 130,000 workers, due to the absence of Palestinian workers.
The Israeli government’s attempts to bring in foreign workers from India, the Philippines and some Southeast Asian countries have not succeeded, due to the high cost of workers and other logistical factors, according to the Globes website, which specializes in the Israeli economy.
