 Over time, the ma'abarot metamorphosed into towns, or were absorbed as neighbourhoods of the towns they were attached to, and residents were provided with permanent housing.Most of the ma'abarah camps became development towns, with Kiryat Shmona, Sderot, Beit She'an, Yokneam Illit, Or Yehuda and Migdal HaEmek all originating as ma'abarot.The first development town was Beit Shemesh, founded in 1950 around 20 km from Jerusalem.