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Students who live or move to Sderot and the Gaza border region will be able to receive a monthly grant towards their accommodation rental from the Ministry for the Development of the Negev and the Galilee for this coming academic year.The initiative is part of efforts to rehabilitate the region after last year's war against Hamas in Gaza in which some 4,500 rockets and mortars were fired at Israel, while Hamas terror cells attempted to infiltrate into Israel from Gaza, causing thousands of people to flee the immediate vicinity of the war.A total of 720 students who decide to live in Sderot or the various towns in the regional council districts of Hof Ashkelon, Sdot Hanegev, Sha’ar Hanegev and Eshkol will be eligible for NIS 500 a month towards their rent payments for the coming academic year.The initiative is being coordinated with the student unions of Sapir College in Sderot and Ben Gurion University in Be’ersheba and the ministry hopes that it will be able to convince students who live in the south to stay in the region for their studies as well as attract students from other parts of the country.The director of the ministry, Sigal Shaltiel Halevi, stated that in the next stage of the program to strengthen the region, families living there will be eligible themselves for rental assistance payments with the goal of attracting people to live in the area.“This project is the ongoing momentum and reinforcement of the towns in the region, following Operation Protective Edge,” said Arye Deri, minister for the Development of the Negev and the Galilee.“There are no-one better than students, who are quality people, to strengthen the region, and we will continue to work in variety of ways to develop the Negev and the Gaza border region.”