Feelings of safety among Gaza border residents are declining, and only one in four people trust government bodies, a new report from the organization aimed at rehabilitating the region in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre found.
The report, conducted by the Tekuma Directorate in conjunction with the Central Bureau of Statistics and issued Sunday, shows that just 23% of those surveyed by feel very or somewhat safe living in the Gaza border area, down from 35% in 2024.
Trust in the government, Knesset, police, and justice system, measured for the first time in 2025, stood at just 40%. Trust in state services was also patchy.
The health service, the only one with survey material from before the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, was trusted by 80% of respondents before the attack and by 74% in 2025.
However, faith in the education system dropped to 51% in 2025, down from 64% in 2024, while belief in welfare services dipped from 68% to 57% over the same period.
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Trust in the local authorities remained stable, dropping slightly from 78% to 76%.
Parents pick up their children at the end of the school day at an elementary school in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, southern Israel, after the Home Front Command and the Ministry of Education approved the resumption of studies in local authorities where the risk of rocket fire is relatively low, and schools have protected spaces, March 16, 2026. (Tsafrir Abayov/FLASH90)
Stress symptoms are decreasing, according to the survey. Reported by just 13% of respondents between 2019 and 2023, the figure rose to 45% in 2024, but dropped to 39% in 2025.
Satisfaction with life and optimism about the future, which 79% of respondents reported before October 7, 2023, dropped to 59% in 2024, then rose to 62% in 2025, possibly reflecting the area’s deep sense of community.
The survey forms part of a detailed halfway-point report by the directorate (in Hebrew), which was established shortly after the traumatic Hamas invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the massacre of 1,200 people and the abduction of 251 to the Gaza Strip, all of whom have since been returned either dead or alive.
The newly built dairy on Kibbutz Kissufim, southern Israel, November 5, 2025. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)
The directorate, responsible for the rehabilitation of the region, has a five-year mandate and a NIS 17.5 billion (just under $6 billion) budget.
Among multiple subjects, the report describes ongoing physical renovations, with project completion depending primarily on the extent of damage at each kibbutz or moshav.
After the plans and work schedules were approved through 2024, implementation took off in 2025, with completion rates rising from 20% to 60% over the year, according to the directorate. For renovation and construction of public institutions, the figure rose from 8% to 51%.
Those overall figures, however, mask varying levels of progress in different communities.
A new neighborhood for young people at Kibbutz Nirim, near the Gaza border, in southern Israel. (Tekuma Directorate)
While 99% of the works have been completed in Nirim and Nahal Oz, for example, 88% in Ein Hashlosha, and 83% in Re’im (residents returned to these communities last summer), just 35% have been completed in Be’eri, which was ravaged on October 7. The works there are supposed to be completed by the end of the year.
Work is due to finish at Kibbutz Kfar Aza and Kibbutz Holit in August, while at Nir Oz, construction will continue until the end of next year.
The residents of Be’eri, Kfar Aza, Holit, and Nir Oz are still primarily in temporary accommodation.
Kibbutz Holit’s informal education center is being upgraded and will be protected, southern Israel, November 5, 2025. (sue Surkes/Times of Israel)
Subject to government funding, the directorate is planning to spend NIS 2.9 billion ($965 million) on 116 projects this year.
By the end of 2025, it had earmarked NIS 11.6 billion ($3.9 billion), representing roughly 67% of the planned five-year budget, with NIS 5.4 billion ($1.8 billion) already paid out and the remainder awaiting advanced planning and execution stages.
The report said the directorate had budgeted NIS 11.6 billion ($3.9 billion) by the end of 2025, representing roughly 67% of the planned five-year budget, with NIS 5.4 billion ($1.8 billion) already paid out and the remainder awaiting the advanced planning and execution stages.
Aviad Friedman, head of the directorate, emphasized that the mission, scheduled to conclude in 2028, was not just about restoration but was leading a deep change to ensure a prosperous future through systematic anchors for growth.
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