In Beitar Illit, a hareidi city west of Gush Etzion with the largest growth rate in Israel, the construction of some 80 permanent classrooms has begun. These are the first permanent structures of the town's educational system. Some 10,000 school and nursery children learn in hundreds of temporary classrooms, such as caravans, in Beitar Illit. Almost all the schools belong to the independent hareidi "chinukh atzma'i" network. Mif'al HaPayis, Israel's lottery system, will participate in the costs.



The population of Gush Katif has grown; for details about the growth, see "Hudna Violence Continues."