| This IHT article was originally 24 paragraphs. This is what is left after the repeats and the editorial posturing. |
GAZA: Israel allowed hundreds of foreigners, many of them married to Palestinians, to leave the enclave, raising fears here that Israel was planning to escalate its campaign. Hundreds of spouses of Palestinians, including women from Romania, Russia, Ukraine and nations in Western Europe, left Gaza on Friday with the help of diplomats from their countries.
Alla Semaks, 34, a Ukrainian married to a Palestinian, and her four children were among about 300 people who came in buses to the Erez checkpoint in northern Gaza to cross into Israel. Her husband, Mohammed Atawneh, 36, was not leaving because he had only Palestinian identity papers, she said in a telephone interview. "I want to come back when the situation allows it," she said. "I have nothing in Ukraine. My children are very afraid for their father. We fear there will be an Israeli ground offensive." |