GUSH KATIF - II

GUSH KATIF – II

Gush Katif – 10 years old

Since Gush Katif was planned as a strategic buffer between Israel and Egypt, people were given incentives to join and were offered a small house (not yet built) and a greenhouse. Ganei Tal, which Simcha (my first-born) and her husband, Gideon, decided to join, was the second moshav to be built there.

Since the houses had not yet been built the other members, who were all married and lived elsewhere, had to leave their families in their homes at the beginning and lived together as bachelors in one building, in order to be able to start work in their greenhouses.

Simcha and Gideon, who were newly-weds, started their married life living in an old caravan and turned it into a home - although Gideon was so tall that his feet stuck out of the “bedroom” window! Their next “home” was an old bus from the time of the British mandate which Gideon shlepped from the Tel-Aviv old bus station. There was still a notice stuck up from that time “beware of pickpockets”. Since Gideon had “golden hands” he devised a shower stall and toilet and Simcha hung curtains in the “bedroom”.

When they finally moved into their permanent two-bedroom home it was just in time for their oldest boy Nir to be born. Two years later their one daughter, Ya’ara, joined the family and then came Omer three years later. After Omer there was a break of six and a half years until Assaf and then Gilead who is the youngest was born.

Gideon Rivlin, a ninth generation Israeli, was a devoted husband and family man and worked very hard to improve their standard of living. Apart from his greenhouses, where he grew flowers and red peppers for export, his main source of income was erecting and fixing fences around settlements all over the country for defense purposes. Some of the places in which he worked were exposed to enemy fire which was a great source of concern for all of us.

Although the Gush Katif settlements and the roads leading to it were guarded by the Israeli Army's Gaza Division, settlers were still vulnerable to attacks.

During the First Intifada (1987–1990), which broke out in nearby Gaza, the residents of Gush Katif were on the forefront of the violence and were subject to frequent stoning of traffic, among other incidents.

Since the beginning of the al-Aqsa Intifada (2000), Gush Katif settlements were the target of thousands of violent attacks by Palestinian militants. More than 6000 mortar bombs and Qassam rockets were launched into Gush Katif, miraculously causing only few fatalities though causing tremendous property and psychological damage.  Most of the ground attacks were infiltrations and shootings. There were also attempts to infiltrate by sea.

Palestinian attacks on Israeli vehicles traveling on the Kissufim road were very common. A school bus was bombed on 20 November 2000, killing two teachers and injuring several children. Three children from one family lost their legs in the attack. In another attack, in May 2004, Palestinian militants ambushed and killed Tali Hatuel, who was eight months pregnant, and her four daughters when a Palestinian terrorist opened direct fire on her car.  Two soldiers who came to her assistance were also shot.   Many of the ground attacks on Gush Katif were thwarted by the Israeli military.

All in all, 42 residents of Gush Katif were killed by Arab terror and countless others injured.