Ten-month-old Liv was among 270 evacuated to the United States from Israel on Sunday after violence broke out in the region – one of 92 children brought in by Operation Promised Land.
She was accompanied by her American-born mother Sarah, her Israeli father Ben, and their 9-year-old dog Kai. The young parents said they made the difficult decision to leave their home — and the rest of Ben’s family — because of concerns about the impact the war with Hamas could have on the child.
“[Ben] It was very difficult for him to leave his family and friends and even though it’s my home now because I moved there, this is his home and it was very difficult for him,” Sarah said after landing in Tampa, Florida, in interview obtained from Newsweek. “But we wanted to make this decision for her.
“It’s really scary because we just left our family behind and everything we know, but for me it feels really good to make the right decision for her and our future and our family. There were a lot of things that made us feel as a parent, but I think that this really took it to the next level. I have to be selfless and I have to think about my child.”
Clockwise from top left: Ben, Sarah, 10-month-old Liv and dog Kai—one of many families evacuated from Israel due to continued violence in the region, October 15, 2023. Project Dynamo
The couple explained that they lived together in Israel for nine years, after Sarah moved there and married Ben, and were used to going to their shelter room to the sound of rockets.
But the latest spate of violence—which has so far claimed the lives of nearly 5,000 people in Israel and Gaza, according to the latest Associated Press estimates since a surprise attack by the militant group Hamas on Oct. 7—has left them fearing for Liva’s safety.
Sarah said the rocket attacks were “scary, but it’s something that’s part of life and something you go through. [current] I think that the situation just raised to another level how drastic and intense the retaliation of others was. So as a mother, as a new mom, it really triggered me, caused me a lot of anxiety, fear and stress.
“Bombs are scary, yes, but we have a shelter, we’re safe. We know we’re protected and we’ve been through this so many times before. But it was more like what could happen if something bigger happened… I couldn’t sleep alone thinking about her child and her protection.”
Since around 1,500 Hamas militants launched the attack, killing civilians including children and taking nearly 200 hostages, the Israeli Air Force has been conducting an intensive campaign of airstrikes against Hamas targets in Gaza.
Palestinian militants continued to fire rockets and artillery from Palestinian territory. On Tuesday, the Institute for the Study of War, a military affairs think tank based in Washington, recorded 38 attacks that day.
The evacuee parents explained that to keep Liv calm, they would have lots of toys in their shelter room and would play with her to distract her while the rockets flew overhead.
American citizens evacuated from Israel as part of Operation Promised Land are seen during a stopover in Porto, Portugal on their way back to Tampa, Florida on October 15, 2023. Project Dynamo
“We are happy that it is not [at] an age where she understands what’s going on right now,” Ben said. But as the conflict escalated, Sarah worried, “If we stay locked in the shelter for three days, how would that affect her?”
Project Dynamo, which was established to rescue American citizens after the US military pulls out of Afghanistan in August 2021, announced its first evacuation of American civilians and their families on Sunday night, including two dogs.
Many commercial flights to and from Israel have been canceled due to the violence in the region, prompting the charity, aided by an executive order from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, to plan evacuations.
The federal government is helping to evacuate U.S. citizens, including on cruise ships from Haifa to Cyprus, where they can return to the U.S.
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Source: newstars.edu.vn