{"id":60908,"date":"2026-07-30T10:10:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T14:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/population-booming-three-years-after-oct-7-sderot-looks-to-show-visitors-citys-resiliency\/30\/07\/2026\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T10:10:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T14:10:31","slug":"population-booming-three-years-after-oct-7-sderot-looks-to-show-visitors-citys-resiliency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/population-booming-three-years-after-oct-7-sderot-looks-to-show-visitors-citys-resiliency\/30\/07\/2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Population booming three years after Oct. 7, Sderot looks to show visitors city&#8217;s resiliency"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\" data-body-type=\"bodyblocks\">\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p><span class=\"[&amp;_p]:inline\">Cafe Chico in Sderot, July 20, 2026 (photo credit: SAM HALPERN)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The residents of Sderot spoke to the Post ahead of an August 11 event that is part of an initiative to bring more visitors to the city this summer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Three years after dozens of Israelis were killed on the streets of <a data-ylk=\"slk:Sderot;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jpost.com\/israel-news\/article-903754\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Sderot<\/a> during the Hamas-led massacres in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, the city&#8217;s population has seen a boom, and now, Sderot&#8217;s residents are courting summer visitors to showcase the city&#8217;s resiliency.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In 2023, according to population statistics, Sderot was home to 35,477 people. Sderot Deputy Mayor Elad Kalimi told <em>The Jerusalem Post<\/em> last week that number was now at around 42,000, marking a nearly 20% rise in under three years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;It&#8217;s magic. It&#8217;s a miracle,&#8221; Kalimi said, speaking to the <em>Post<\/em> at Sderot&#8217;s newly opened Cafe Chico, adding that the community was a symbol of &#8220;strength&#8221; and &#8220;overcoming.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;We want visitors who come here to the city to see and meet the heroism and the strength of our community,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a data-ylk=\"slk:Rapid growth is not new to Sderot;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jpost.com\/israel-news\/article-881899\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Rapid growth is not new to Sderot<\/a>. Population data from Israel&#8217;s Central Bureau of Statistics indicate that from 2021 through 2023, the city&#8217;s population rose by about 5,000. And now, Kalimi says, Sderot is building another five new neighborhoods that he projects will grow the city&#8217;s population to 70,000.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Aryeh Cohen in Sderot, July 20, 2026. (credit: SAM HALPERN)\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"822\" height=\"537\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/lo\/mysterio\/api\/13e1599dda6178fca8c274456c2025c9b93ad1460cb8f0ffbd9d51d8d65c93ec\/lightyear_networkapi\/resizefill_w822_h537;quality_80;format_webp\/https:%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Fjerusalem_post_articles_818%2F00646c56db3859c416686ed72156e560\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-primary p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-primary\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" class=\"flex-none size-4 -scale-x-100 text-primary lg:size-6 [&amp;_path]:fill-current\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M3.1 3.1V11h1.8V6.314l5.392 5.393 1.415-1.414L6.313 4.9H11V3.1zm17.8 17.8V13h-1.8v4.686l-5.393-5.393-1.415 1.414 5.393 5.393H13v1.8z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-primary hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<div style=\"max-height:none;overflow:visible\"><span class=\"[&amp;_p]:inline\"><\/p>\n<p>Aryeh Cohen in Sderot, July 20, 2026. (credit: SAM HALPERN)<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;When we live here in Sderot, it&#8217;s not just having an apartment. We&#8217;re doing a Zionist act,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"mb-4 text-lg font-bold\">Sderot has a spirit of &#8220;unbreakability,&#8221; Kalimi said<\/h3>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Kalimi reflected that the city had a lot of pain, but that even with the troubles from before October 7, 2023, and then the disaster of the massacres themselves, the city embodied a &#8220;spirit of unbreakability.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;We are not breaking. Never, never breaking,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s something that&#8217;s unique to Sderot, and it&#8217;s caused people to come here. People from all over the country. All kinds of people; religious and non-religious, younger and older, come here to Sderot because they feel this unique spirit.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Another prominent Sderot resident, Aryeh Cohen, also spoke to the Post at Cafe Chico. The cafe was named in honor of his son, IDF Captain Shiloh Cohen, nicknamed &#8220;Chico.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Capt. Cohen, a commander in the Shaldag unit, was 24-years-old when he was killed fighting terrorists in <a data-ylk=\"slk:Kibbutz Be'eri;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jpost.com\/israel-news\/politics-and-diplomacy\/article-900849\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Kibbutz Be&#8217;eri<\/a> on October 7, 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Aryeh Cohen recounted his son&#8217;s actions on the day he watered a nearby clementine tree that was relocated from Be&#8217;eri to Sderot. Next to the tree, a charred piece of a building also relocated from Sderot bears a plaque honoring Capt. Shiloh Cohen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Shiloh understood on that day that there was no time to wait for instructions from commanders,&#8221; Aryeh Cohen said. &#8220;He left the house, and he didn&#8217;t have his gun with him, so he took his brother&#8217;s gun and hitchhiked.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After that, Cohen said his son joined some soldiers from the elite special reconnaissance unit, Sayeret Matkal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Shiloh woke up at around 7:00 am, left the house at 9:30, and at around 11:30 he was already fighting in Mefalsim.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After fighting there, Capt. Cohen eventually made it to Be&#8217;eri.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;In the end, Shiloh was killed at around 5:30 pm.&#8221; Cohen recounted, adding that, despite that, he believed if it were all to happen again, his son would make all the same choices.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Cafe Chico in Sderot, July 20, 2026 (credit: SAM HALPERN)\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"822\" height=\"537\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/lo\/mysterio\/api\/96f2108d62c0b2ec605941186e46d1aa815b024d1cebe232da88563b14f0cbb5\/lightyear_networkapi\/resizefill_w822_h537;quality_80;format_webp\/https:%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Fjerusalem_post_articles_818%2F2e8c9305b32aaac3753a63453d6054f6\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-primary p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-primary\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" class=\"flex-none size-4 -scale-x-100 text-primary lg:size-6 [&amp;_path]:fill-current\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M3.1 3.1V11h1.8V6.314l5.392 5.393 1.415-1.414L6.313 4.9H11V3.1zm17.8 17.8V13h-1.8v4.686l-5.393-5.393-1.415 1.414 5.393 5.393H13v1.8z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-primary hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<div style=\"max-height:none;overflow:visible\"><span class=\"[&amp;_p]:inline\"><\/p>\n<p>Cafe Chico in Sderot, July 20, 2026 (credit: SAM HALPERN)<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"mb-4 text-lg font-bold\">Children in Sderot grow up under threat of terrorism<\/h3>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Karen Kalfa, a Sderot schoolteacher who immigrated to Israel from Montreal 25 years ago, recounted how her children had all grown up under threat of terrorism from <a data-ylk=\"slk:Gaza;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jpost.com\/middle-east\/article-904113\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Gaza<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I have six kids. My oldest son is 18 and a half, and while he was growing up, he was exposed to many Qassam (rocket) attacks or many times that there was war in Israel,&#8221; she told the <em>Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">On October 7, she said, she began calling up her students to make sure they were ok. Some never answered.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I lost many, many of my own students, and my colleagues, and friends, and neighbors,&#8221; she said. And so, for me, October 7 was not only a loss because of my town, but also because of the community I work at.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Still, she said that the pain Sderot endured was something that worked to make the community stronger.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Living in Sderot was always a special thing because the rockets and all the trauma that the community went through is something that brought us together,&#8221; she said. &#8220;No one can understand what I go through unless he&#8217;s from Sderot.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The residents of Sderot spoke to the <em>Post<\/em> ahead of an August 11 event that is part of an initiative to bring more visitors to the city this summer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The event will occur in English and will feature a tour of Sderot, led by local residents who will share their stories of the city. Among other things, it will also include a visit to Cafe Chico.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Space is limited. Advance registration is required by email at hilam@reut-sderot.org.il or via WhatsApp at 058-492-2986.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/world\/articles\/population-booming-three-years-oct-135226813.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cafe Chico in Sderot, July 20, 2026 (photo credit: SAM HALPERN) The residents of Sderot spoke to the Post ahead of an<br \/><button class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/population-booming-three-years-after-oct-7-sderot-looks-to-show-visitors-citys-resiliency\/30\/07\/2026\/\">Read More &rsaquo;<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/lo\/mysterio\/api\/21808d52c26865dd77765417eb8d334c25158540adf024f9a0c87277171b0148\/lightyear_networkapi\/resizefill_w576_h403;quality_80;format_webp\/https:%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Fjerusalem_post_articles_818%2F4e59475ddaadb2a89c75d4caf0ddbd7c","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60908"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}