What many people around the world don’t realize is that the war with Hamas, which started on October 7, hasn’t just created a refugee crisis in Gaza, it has also created one in Israel as well.

Between 200,000 to an estimated 500,000 Israelis, many of them deeply traumatized by events in the south, have been forced from their homes. No-one is entirely sure of the figure because the situation is in such flux.

At least 25 Gaza border towns, and some 43 towns on the Israel-Lebanon border have been evacuated, and whole communities are relocating – often with very few belongings – to hotels, field schools, and even tent cities now going up in Ramat Gan and Eilat.

Managing this fast-growing and quite chaotic disaster is a difficult task, fragmented among regional authorities, nonprofits and ad-hoc volunteer groups. And no-one knows how long the situation will last.  

Find out more about how Israel is trying to manage this deepening crisis in our story below.