Settlers evicted during the disengagement from Gaza who are still living at the Nitzan mobile home site seven-and-a-half years later will from now on be required to pay rent for their accommodations. But many angry residents say they will not pay.
Several days ago, the 500 or so families received their first bill from the government housing company Amigur, which is responsible for the crumbling prefabs known in Hebrew as caravillas, along with a letter informing them they would have to begin paying rent as of January 1. Rent for the 60-square-meter homes is NIS 1,400 a month, while families in 90-square-meter homes are being charged NIS 2,400 a month.
In its letter, Amigur warned that the Tenufa Administration, which is in charge of helping the evicted settlers, would be apprised of any nonpayment of rent, and that nonpayment would result in “all means at our disposal being used to collect the debt, including offsetting, deducting, and denying eligibility for various benefits and payments.”
But residents are incensed, noting that many of the families at the site are in very bad financial situations: They have eaten through their compensation payments or suffered other reversals, including losing money to dishonest contractors, and thus have no way to obtain other housing – or pay rent. Moreover, a new town called Be’er Ganim, which is finally being built for several hundred of the residents, is nowhere near fit for habitation.
“We have no intention of paying,” said community secretary Aviel Eliaz. “This is a disgrace. For four years we’ve been screaming that many families have no money to move into permanent homes. The solution is in the few million shekels that the Tenufa Administration refuses to give the residents.
“Be’er Ganim is not ready; there’s no electricity or infrastructure, and it looks like a construction site,” he added. “Even though a few families have moved there, it’s not fit for habitation.”
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