JERUSALEM, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Israel will invest 180 million shekels (about 48.5 million U.S. dollars) in the rehabilitation and development of agricultural farms in the Tekuma region near the Gaza Strip border, the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced on Wednesday.
Most of the farms in the region's villages were damaged or abandoned after the Hamas attack last October, according to local medium report.
The amount will be provided throughout the current year by the ministry and the Tekuma Authority, established by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to carry out a national mission of rebuilding, strengthening, and developing the communities in the region.
The ministry's Director General Oren Lavi noted in the statement that the Tekuma region is considered Israel's granary of grain and vegetables, an important anchor for the country's food security and functional continuity.
He added that this is an unprecedented investment in scope, expected to completely change the region's agriculture, making it advanced and technological.
Support will also be given for upgrading and expanding farms, buying advanced equipment, and improving infrastructure to boost farm productivity and food output, he added. ■
