The Jewish Agency for Israel has responded to the move to a war footing in the south of the country with 
The Jewish Agency received 45 requests for assistance and is already issuing checks to 14 families.
emergency assistance, a hotline for new immigrants, and more. One important service the Agency is providing allows new Israelis to contact their overseas relatives.
Since the start of Israel's Operation Cast Lead on Saturday, the Jewish Agency has begun to aid residents of the area under attack by the Hamas-run Palestinian Authority in Gaza. The organization is providing immediate financial grants through its Victims of Terror Fund, which is underwritten by the United Jewish Communities (US Federations) and Keren Hayesod. Those eligible for the assistance are people who have been physically injured or whose home was badly damaged in a rocket attack.
The grant, usually $1,000 per family, is used for immediate needs such as paying for temporary housing, clothes and other incidentals. As of Monday, the Jewish Agency received 45 requests for assistance and is already issuing checks to 14 families.
The Jewish Agency also set up a hotline (1-800-200-183) for residents of the south who need assistance. The hotline will serve residents interested in being hosted by families living in the center of the country, away from the area under fire, as well as those needing to apply for Victims of Terror funding.
The hotline will also serve the 1,200 immigrants living at five Jewish Agency absorption centers in the area under PA attack. The Jewish Agency is working to put the new immigrants in touch with relatives living abroad, and has augmented staff and assigned additional social workers to the absorption centers.
In addition to the immediate emergency response, the Jewish Agency has been giving increased attention to Sderot and the Gaza periphery communities for some time. Recent activities include: one-day and two-day excursions away from the rocket-battered regions for youth and families; solidarity events worldwide; neighborhood mutual assistance projects; establishing neighborhood emergency response units in Ashkelon and a donation of two first-response vehicles to the city.
The Jewish Agency is supported by founding constituent partners Keren Hayesod, United Jewish Communities, and Jewish Federations around the world. Primary funders are: Keren Hayesod, United Jewish Communities, major Jewish Federations in North America, and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.