Erez crossing (archives)
Photo: AFP
Israeli woman escapes abusive Gaza husband
Woman who married Arab and moved to Rafah re-enters Israel through Erez border crossing along with her four children
An Israeli woman who married an Arab and lived with him in Gaza returned to Israel through the Erez border crossing on Tuesday along with her four children.
The woman, 27, originally form Ashdod, met the Arab-Israeli man a few years ago, and after a while the couple moved to Egypt.
About a year ago, after the woman gave birth to her fourth baby, the couple moved to Rafah, a town located in the southern part of the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave. Shortly thereafter she began complaining to her sisters in Israel of her husband's abusive behavior, which included physical violence.
Her family turned to the Yad L’Achim organization, which helps rescue Israeli women from "hostile Arab villages" in the Palestinian Authority and sets them up in safe houses around the country, "where they can build new lives for themselves."
On Tuesday morning she took advantage of the fact that her husband was out of the house, gathered her children and took a cab to the Erez crossing.
During the cab ride her husband phoned her and threatened to kill her if she leaves him. The woman's sister and brother-in-law greeted her on the Israeli side of the border.
She was interrogated at the Sderot police station and then taken to a safe house.
