300,000+ Israelis in the North have been devastated by rocket attacks and widespread displacement since the start of the war.

The situation in the North – home to 35% of the country’s population – continues to worsen, with more than 70,000 Israelis already evacuated and another 240,000 living in the line of fire. The need for humanitarian support surges every day, and many towns are too small, or services stretched too thin, to meet the demand.

We have been preparing residents in the North for escalation in the war as well as rebuilding infrastructure and critical social services through collaborative efforts with local and national government leaders responsible for 30+ municipalities across the North.

What We’ve Done Since October 7th

The war has intensified the key challenges already faced in Israel’s northern communities, many of which lag behind in healthcare, employment, access to public transportation, and higher education. To boost the resilience of these towns and cities, as of October 2024, JDC has:

• Set up a dedicated Humanitarian Situation Room (“Hamal”) team and placed JDC-trained and funded emergency response coordinators in 16 high-risk locations in the North to ensure emerging needs of the most vulnerable are met in real time.
• Delivered 30,000 emergency kits to northern communities for distribution to households, benefitting over 120,000 people.
• Provided nearly 366,000 pieces of emergency medical and hospital equipment and first aid supplies across Israel, including to vulnerable communities in the North.
• Set up an emergency field medical unit for regional use in case of a mass casualty event.
• Created a network of 72 community caseworkers, with another 90 on standby, throughout Israel to respond to the needs of elderly and people with disabilities, including evacuation.
• Operating 21 pop-up day centers in hotels serving 12,600 displaced elderly.
• Helping people with disabilities who don’t have safe rooms develop plans and adjust living spaces so that they can reach safety more quickly.
• Providing urgent relief to residents who live in the line of fire — including optimizing welfare, healthcare, and education services, and integrating children back into school.
• Assisting struggling businesses and the newly unemployed, as well as establishing a team of essential workers who will ensure continuity of services and businesses in the event of a war on the northern front.
• Establishing a forum of city managers and key leaders to share knowledge, best practices, and collaborative solutions to shared regional challenges.

What We Must Do Now

JDC is responding to the dangerous and dynamic situation in the North by both addressing immediate needs and implementing systems and services to ensure the region is resilient.

• Activating disaster response for high-risk locations, including the 24/7 Humanitarian Situation Room, distributing food and water bundles, baby essentials, and elderly essentials, and supplying life-support and other medical equipment to local emergency response teams.
• Expanding mental health intervention programs and services for children, youth, and families at risk with tailored interventions to treat trauma and build resilience.
• Expanding crisis intervention for the elderly and people with disabilities to prevent physical and mental decline, including additional caseworkers, pop-up day centers, and evacuating medical emergencies and people with disabilities in distress.
• Safeguarding essential services and businesses to ensure communities can function and the region has a sustainable future by mobilizing stand-by personnel.
• Supporting small businesses in the Galilee and Golan, including those owned by soldiers and reservists, through grants, temporary relocation, and business planning assistance.
• Deploy additional social workers rapidly to crisis areas to address welfare issues, followed by professionals who will provide trauma and rehabilitation services and fulfill education needs.