Ynet reports that thousands of Sderot residents were evacuated from the city Tuesday evening, accompanied by members of the Home Front Command as part of Mashav Ruach (Breeze) program, a response to Operation Shield and Arrow launched by the Israel Defense Forces early in the morning.

The first phase of the evacuation included hundreds of families leaving on 25 buses. Most of them traveled to hotels in the Dead Sea.

Earlier, in the morning, hundreds of residents were evacuated from the enclave, in the framework of the Mashav Ruach program, an evacuation program coordinated and funded by the Defense Ministry, which is responsible for financing the stays in guest rooms, hotels and hostels.

Local authorities are holding exit logs of departing families, and each Gaza border community has a designated location to house the displaced.