In a tragic incident, an Indian nurse from Kerala has been killed in a Hamas rocket attack at Ashkelon in Israel.
According to the reports, a 31-year-old caregiver Soumya Santosh, hailing from Idukki, Kerala, was killed in a rocket attack by Palestinian terrorists from the Gaza coastal strip. Soumya Santosh worked as a caregiver to an old woman in the southern Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon.
The Kerala nurse was on the phone with her husband when the rocket hit the apartment she was in. The wheel-chair bound lady who Soumya was taking care of was also killed during the attack. Reportedly, Soumya had lived in Israel for the last ten years in Ashkelon and is survived by a nine-year-old son and husband in Kerala.
“My brother heard a huge sound during the video call. Suddenly the phone got disconnected. Then we immediately contacted fellow Malayalees working there. Thus, we came to know about the incident,” said Saji, brother-in-law of the deceased nurse.
Soumya could not reach the bomb shelter in time
According to the local media network Channel 12, the nearest rocket shelter was a minute away from the spot, but they could not reach it in time. The apartment where the old lady was staying lacked a fortified room.
Ashkelon, a border town near the disputed Gaza Strip, has come under massive fire from Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. At least 32 people have so far been killed after terrorists from Gaza fired more than two hundred rockets towards Israel since Monday evening.
India’s Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan has expressed condemnation against the attacks and expressed grief over Soumya’s demise.
“Spoke with the family of Ms Soumya Santhosh to convey my deep condolences at her tragic demise during the rocket attacks from Gaza today. Assured all possible assistance. We have condemned these attacks and the violence in Jerusalem, and urged restraint by both sides,” he said in a tweet.
Spoke with the family of Ms Soumya Santhosh to convey my deep condolences at her tragic demise during the rocket attacks from Gaza today. Assured all possible assistance.
— V. Muraleedharan (@MOS_MEA) May 11, 2021
We have condemned these attacks and the violence in Jerusalem, and urged restraint by both sides.
Israeli Ambassador to India Ron Malka also condoled the Indian woman’s death.
“On behalf of the state of Israel, I convey heartfelt condolences to the family of Ms Soumya Santosh, murdered by Hamas indiscriminate terror attack on innocent lives. Our hearts are crying with her 9 years old son that lost his mother in this cruel Terrorist attack,” the Israeli Ambassador said in his tweet.
The Israel-Palestine clashes:
The long-standing territorial-control issues between Israel and the pro-Palestinian forces have once again escalated, resulting in large scale violence and attacks. The court ruling of eviction of illegal Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in east Jerusalem has stoked tensions and sparked fresh violence in the region.
Prior to the latest exchange of fire, Israeli police were attacked by Palestinians inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Sunday. The Israel police had come under severe attack by Palestinians, who pelted stones and unleashed heavy attacks on them inside the Al-Aqsa compound. More than 21 officers were wounded after attacks by Palestinians during the attacks on Monday.
Following the Israeli retaliation, the terror outfit Hamas escalated its attack on Israeli civilians by launching hundreds of rockets against Israel. At least five Israelis have been killed after Hamas launched hundreds of rockets from the Gaza Strip. In response to the rocket attacks, the Israeli army has struck some 140 targets in the coastal enclave after Hamas openly joined Palestinian terrorists to intensify the clashes between the two sides.
