Israel's National Planning and Building Commission today approved for deposit plans for the new Gaza border town on Hanon. The town, which will be north of Road 25 between Netivot and Kibbutz Sa'ad will have 500 housing units for 1,800 residents. Hanon will be seven kilometers from the Gaza border.
The Commission said that the reason for the new town is "Consolidating settlement in the region, dispersing the population and bringing young families into the Gaza border area."
The Israel Land Administration stressed that this is an initial stage of district outline planning, and that "there is no reason in this decision to prioritize the establishment of a new settlement over the rehabilitation and physical and social strengthening of existing settlements in the area, both rural and urban. The council believes that the establishment of the settlement will have to be examined in the future as part of a basket of solutions that will be offered for the restoration of the area, with a broad vision of the entire region."
While Minister of Construction and Housing Yitzhak Goldknopf said that this is another step in strengthening the Gaza border area, many protested that this is not the right time to be establishing a new settlement.
Adv. Ron Tzin, partner and head of the planning and zoning environment practice at Arnon, Tadmor-Levy law firm, who represents Netivot Municipality, said, "This settlement is an unprecedented folly."
Netivot Municipality strongly opposed the establishment of Hanon, claiming that such a move would harm it socially and economically.
Adv. Tzin said, "If the National Commission wants to join in the celebrations to promote Zionism, it should actually not approve this settlement. We need to see what Israel's perception is of the Gaza Strip and the border, wait for the war to end, and hold discussions with the Ministry of Defense. It is possible that perceptions will change: maybe we need to organize more in the cities, maybe not disperse the residents in the settlements as we have done so far.
Adv. Tzin told "Globes" that all examination on the establishment of the settlement were done before October 7, the day the war broke out. "All these examinations need to be undertaken again. You can't carry on as if nothing has happened."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on November 7, 2023.
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