‘Get your kids outta there’
Gross family willingly leaves Gaza settlement of Elei Sinai for Negev; calls on remaining families to send their children to safer locations in light of recent Qassam, mortar attacks
NEGEV- The Gross family, one of the first to willingly leave the Gaza settlement of Elei Sinai, is calling on other settler families that have remained to evacuate their children from the area due to the renewal of Palestinian attacks.
“We invite all Elei Sinai families that have been subject to recent Qassam rocket and mortar shell fire to bring their children to our home, so they may enjoy the Negev tranquility,” Mally Gross said Sunday.
Two weeks ago the Gross family willingly left Gaza for Maslul, a moshav located near the Negev town of Ofakim - a move that stirred controversy among Elei Sinai residents.
The renewed Palestinian mortar shell and Qassam rocket attacks on Northern Gaza during the weekend have motivated the Gross family to call on their friends to get their children out of harms way.
The Gross family: Not sorry they left (Photo: Ronny Sofer)
“I praise the lord that I am not there,” Mally’s husband Haimon said. “A Qassam landed in the settlement (Elei Sinai) for the first time during the weekend; we are glad we had left beforehand.”
Mally said the family had predicted the current escalation in the Gaza Strip.
“Unfortunately, the disengagement is being carried out under fire, and it is a good thing our girls do not have to witness it,” she said. “We are detaching our children from the media outlets so they would not have to experience it.”
The Gross family said three Elei Sinai families have already accepted their offer and will be sending their children within the next few weeks, where they will remain with them until the pullout is completed.
“The government must enforce the law regarding the supervision of the children who are in danger there,” Mally said. “If these children had a junkie or alcoholic for a mother, the state would sue to have them taken away.
Haimon said the government has been more than supportive of his family’s relocation to Maslul.
“They (the government) are willing to loan us money and help us begin our new life,” he said.
Last Thursday the Gross family accompanied some 200 UJC (United Jewish Communities) members to Elei Sinai. However, they chose to wait in the car, as some residents remain resentful of their decision to willingly evacuate the settlement.
