Israel clash: Kin fear for lives of Telugu workers

Around 10,000 people from T’gana, Andhra live in conflict-hit nation

◗ A 30-YEAR-OLD Indian woman who hailed from Kerala’s Idukki district in Israel was killed in a rocket attack by Palestinian militants from Gaza on Wednesday

Telugu people in Israel are in the grip of fear as clashes between Israel and Palestinians continued. Around 10,000 people from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh live in Israel.

Among these, around 1,000 people from undivided Nizamabad, Adilabad and Karimnagar districts are in Israel on work visas.

The family members of the affected Telugus in Israel are worried over the safety of their beloved ones during the war-like situation. The kin of Telugus working there get in touch with them over video calls and social media apps. For the last three days, they are constantly contacting these migrants to know of their well-being.

After Gulf countries, the majority of unemployed youths from north Telangana districts have shown an interest to work in Israel. They believe that working conditions and pay packages are more satisfactory in Israel than in the Gulf countries. As a result, for the last 10 years, youths from the two Telugu states thronged Israel for employment.

Speaking to this newspaper from Israel on Thursday night, Telangana-Israel Association working president Bommakanti Maheshwar Goud said they are safe in Israel. Each household has a safety bunker and people rushed in when sirens are

blown by the Israeli authorities minutes before the rocket attacks, he said.

Maheshwar Goud said food and accommodation are available and they are doing their daily work as usual. “A rocket attack claimed the life of a Keralite nurse, Soumya, near our residence a day ago,” he said.

Most Telugus there are working as caregivers. The Israel government takes utmost care for the safety and welfare of all citizens without any discrimination, he said.

A 30-year-old Indian woman in Israel was killed in a rocket attack by Palestinian militants from Gaza on Wednesday.

Soumya Santosh, who hailed from Kerala’s Idukki district, worked as a caregiver attending to an old woman at a house in the southern Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon.

Ashkelon, which borders the Gaza Strip, has come under a massive fire from the Palestinian militants.

The Indian woman was said to be living in Israel for the last seven years. She has a nine-year-old son whom she had left with her husband in Kerala. Her 80-year-old elderly charge is said to have survived the direct hit on the house and is hospitalised in a serious condition, reports said.