Woman killed in Israel; son awaits phone call

His chances of a reunion with his mother crushed forever, the nine-year-old son of Soumya Santhosh, killed in a Palestinian rocket attack in Israel, is unable to cope with the loss and still awaits her phone call.

Condoling Soumya's death, Israel's envoy to India said the situation reminded him of Moses, the Israeli boy who was orphaned in the terrorist attack in Mumbai in 2008.

The family of the 30-year-old Kerala woman, who lost her life in a deadly rocket attack in Israel, is yet to recover from the shock and cannot believe they will never be able to see her again. Soumya's husband Santosh is struggling to console their son, who could not cope with the situation.

"He is awaiting her call," Santhosh, a resident of Keerithodu in Idukki district, told reporters here, while holding back his tears. The shell-shocked family never imagined Soumya will meet with such a tragic end after she travelled to Israel in search of better fortunes.

She had worked as a caregiver for an elderly woman in Ashkelon in that country, although she had often shared her anguish with her family about massive firings in the Israeli territory by the Palestinian militants. It all happened as Soumya was planning her return to Kerala, ending over seven years of toil in the Israeli city, for a better life back home.

It was a Tuesday afternoon and Soumya was on a video call with her husband telling him about the tense atmosphere in the southern Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon.