Upper Galilee Regional Council Head Giora Zaltz slammed the Israeli government for not implementing a multi-year plan to reinforce northern Israel.
Implementation of the plan was slated to begin in January.
In an interview with Galei Zahal, Zaltz said: "There's been a huge oversight here. In my council alone, there are 8,000 families, and 3,000 do not have a safe room at home."
When asked why he chose not to open public bomb shelters, Zaltz explained: "When this is a front line, there's no time to reach a protected space. Running to it may cost in lives."
The IDF's Home Front Command created and continuously updates its map of how many seconds residents of a given town have to reach a protected space before a missile falls. Residents of towns immediately bordering Gaza have fifteen seconds from when the air raid siren sounds, while their neighbors further away from Gaza have 30 or 45 seconds to reach a protected space from when the siren sounds.
However, towns in the Upper Galilee have zero seconds to reach a protected space. Running to a protected space would mean reaching it only after the missile lands. According to the Home Front Command, those who are not near and cannot reach a protected space when a siren sounds should lie flat on the ground and cover their heads with their hands. This reduces the chance of injuries to 10%, whereas a person standing upright will almost certainly suffer injuries if a missile lands near him, and a person squatting or crouching has an 85% chance of being injured if a missile lands near him.