The number of Israelis without access to bunkers has increased from 2.5 million to 3.19 million in the last six years, a problem that mainly affects Arab communities, the Shomrim news portal said.
The balance published on January 6 by the State Controller and Ombudsman of Israel, Matanyahu Englman, showed that a third of the Israeli population, more than nine million people, continue to have no access to a shelter or ‘bunker’ to take refuge from attacks, at a time when the war with Iran caused at least 14 deaths in the country.
“A third of Israel’s residents are not adequately protected against missile attacks, including more than 42,000 residents who live in communities located within a nine-kilometer radius of the border with Syria and Lebanon”stated the provider, cited in the statement.
According to Shomrim, an independent, non-profit news portal that analyzed the document, the last report of this type, in 2020, indicated that the number of citizens without access to these shelters increased from 28% to 33%.
The shelter network is significantly lacking among the Arab community residing in Israel, with the proportion of shelters reaching one for every 15,000 people, the portal added, citing the report.
There are only 37 public shelters in Arab communities, which represents just 0.3% of the total number of shelters in the country, the report said.
Of the 37, eight are closed.
The media outlet said that according to 2024 data from the Emergency Center for Arab Local Authorities, around 60% of Arab authorities did not have bomb shelters.
Shomrim said that while the city of Carmiel has 126 public air raid shelters, two adjacent Arab cities have just two between them, equivalent to one shelter for every 15 thousand people.
The situation is equally problematic in other locations such as Rahat, home to the largest Bedouin settlement in Israel, with more than 75,000 inhabitants, where there are only five public shelters.
In Segev Shalom, which has a population of 13,000 that is also majority Bedouin, there is not a single public air raid shelter, Shomrim added.
This year’s report indicated that, although individual shelters increased from 3.5 million in 2020 to 4.3 million, collective public shelters decreased from 550 thousand to 430 thousand, while collective shelter spaces in apartments increased from 2.5 to 1.5 million.
The audit also concluded that the “Protect the North” program, launched in 2018, which aimed to ensure that the civilian population was prepared for emergencies, did not fully implement the approved budget.
“The budget allocated for its implementation was less than half the amount approved by the government and, even this reduced budget, was not fully used,” said the note, adding that these issues had already been highlighted by the ombudsman in a previous report.
“When the Government, Home Front Command and local authorities do not prepare adequately in routine times, Israeli civilians are harmed when a crisis arises.”added provider Englman cited in the statement.
To audit evidence “deficiencies in the actions of several authorities that have not organized themselves effectively to provide adequate services to the public and indicate the urgent need for immediate corrective measures”he concluded.
In the city of Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, two people died on Wednesday after being hit by shrapnel while heading to a shelter, according to the Israeli emergency medical service.
With these victims, the number of deaths in Israel since the start of the war with Iran, on February 28, rose to 14 people.
Lusa
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