Elei Sinai

{{Short description|Former Israeli settlement in the Gaza Strip}} {{pp-extended|small=yes}} {{More citations needed|date=January 2009}} {{Infobox kibbutz |settlement_type=Former [[Israeli settlement]] |pushpin_map=Israel gaza |pushpin_mapsize= 250 |pushpin_label_position= bottom |coordinates = {{coord|31|35|01|N|34|30|09|E|display=inline,title}} |name= Elei Sinai |image=Sender-elleysinay02.jpg |caption= |imgsize= |hebname={{Script/Hebrew|אֱלֵי סִינַי}} |arname= |stdHeb= |altOffSp= |altUnoSp= |meaning= |foundation= 1982 |founded_by= |district= |council= |affiliation= |population=389 |popyear=2004 |area_dunam= |website= |country= |image2=}}

'''Elei Sinai''' ({{langx|he|אֱלֵי סִינַי||Towards Sinai}}) was an [[Israeli settlement]] in the north of the [[Gaza Strip]]. In 2005, it had a population of 389.<ref name=":0" /> During the [[Gaza war]], the site came under full operational control of the Israel Defense Forces and is currently used as a military outpost.{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}}

==Founding== Elei Sinai was established in 1982 ([[Sukkot]] 5743) by a group who had been evicted from [[Yamit]] in the [[Sinai Peninsula]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=2005-08-21 |title=At-a-glance: Gaza pullout |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4159354.stm |access-date=2025-04-13 |language=en-GB}}</ref> It was named for the yearning to return to the Sinai desert, where Yamit was located.

Avi Farhan, a Yamit expellee, and Arik Herfez, whose daughter had been killed by Palestinian militants, were two of the most notable residents.

==Unilateral Disengagement== [[File:Elley-Sinai-refugee-camp01.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Residents of Elei Sinai camping in [[Yad Mordechai]], just over the border from their former homes.]] Among the arguments in opposition to [[Israel's unilateral disengagement plan]], which stated that the settlers should be evicted from Elei Sinai, was a proposal by Farhan allowing the settlers to remain in their homes as Palestinian citizens,<ref>{{cite news |author=Laila El-Haddad |date=4 Jul 2005 |title=Interview: Israeli settler Avi Farhan |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/archive/2005/07/200849154036429462.html |publisher=Aljazeera |access-date=18 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Nir Hasson | date=4 February 2005 |url=https://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/some-settlers-choose-gaza-over-citizenship-1.149326 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021073105/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/some-settlers-choose-gaza-over-citizenship-1.149326 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 21, 2012 |title=Some settlers choose Gaza over citizenship |newspaper=Haaretz |access-date=18 January 2014}}</ref> an idea the Palestinians and the Israeli government rejected.

The residents had actually left their homes voluntarily but returned after realizing that the government had no place to send them.{{clarify|reason=Everyone did? Some? Where did they go to in order to find this out?|date=August 2014}}

After the eviction, a group of fifty families established themselves at the [[Yad Mordechai]] junction as a protest that the government hadn't found a community solution for them. Others were sent to the Shirat HaYam hotel. The rest of the settlement later split into a few groups, including those now found in:

*[[Karmia]], who were promised future homes in [[Talmei Yafeh]] close to [[Ashkelon]]. *[[Or HaNer]], who were promised future homes in the [[Bat Hadar]] neighborhood close to Ashkelon.

Farhan and a part of his family establish a new group and hope to establish a new community in the center of the country. The government agreed in 2006 to acclimatize this group in [[Palmachim]].

==2023 Gaza war==

The site of Elei Sinai was captured by the IDF following the [[Gaza war|invasion of its ground forces into the Gaza Strip]] on October 27, 2023. Their entry into Elei Sinai was part of a pincer move to surround Gaza City, located to the south of Elei Sinai.{{cn|date=December 2023}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Populated places established in 1982]] [[Category:Former Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip]] [[Category:Villages depopulated during the Arab–Israeli conflict]] [[Category:1982 establishments in the Israeli Military Governorate]] [[Category:2005 disestablishments in Palestine]]