Indian woman dies in rocket attack on Israel
THE body of Kerala’s Soumya Santhosh, who was killed in a rocket attack in the Israeli city of Ashkelon, where she worked as a caregiver, reached Delhi on Saturday.
V Muraleedharan, India’s Union Minister, said Santhosh’s body was brought on a special aircraft from Israel.
“It was received by me,” said Muraleedharan.
Santhosh’s remains were taken to her hometown in Kerala on Saturday evening through the Kochi airport. It was then taken to her home in Idukki later that night.
Her funeral was held on Sunday at the Nithya Sahaya Matha Church in Keerithodu in Idukki.
Jonathan Zadka, the Consul General of Israel to South India, who attended her funeral, said the people of Israel would stand with Soumya’s family.
“… We are with the family of Santhosh at this moment of grief, especially for her 9-year-old son, Adon,” Zadka said.
He said Israel would treat Santhosh as a victim of a terror attack on foreign nationals and act accordingly.
Santhosh, 31, had worked in Israel for eight years. She last visited her home in Idukki four years ago.
Santhosh was a caregiver to an 83-year-old Holocaust survivor in Israel. The woman was seriously hurt during the attack and hospitalised.
Recalling the incident, Santhosh’s husband said they were speaking on a video call when he heard a loud noise. Then there was silence from his wife.
“After a while, I could hear loud noises of some people there, as the video call was disconnected.
“Later, I was informed that she, along with a few others, had died,” he said.
The husband said that on a previous call, he advised his wife to go to a safer place.
The husband said Santhosh had then called the children of the woman she was caring for and the son told her he would pick her up.
“She had packed her bags and that of the elderly lady and was about to have some kanji as she was doubtful of getting such food in the area she was moving to. Now she has gone and that’s it.”
According to the Washington Post, the rocket blasted through the front wall of the one-storey home, leaving behind broken plaster, glass, furniture and an overturned red walker.
According to Santhosh’s friend, Sherly Benny, the house did not have a bomb shelter.
The newspaper reported that Benny went to Ashkelon from the nearby city of Ashdod after the agency they worked for called on Tuesday afternoon with the news of Santhosh’s death.
“Inside Santhosh’s room, she packed up into large plastic bags what remained of her friend’s processions: clothes, jewellery and a small prayer book. The items would be sent back to India to her relatives.”
Benny told the newspaper that they spoke every morning.
“Santhosh loved cooking and tending to the beds of colourful flowers that surrounded the house.
“The flowers remained untouched by the attack on Tuesday.”
Sources said the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine had now become a subject of growing concern for Kerala nurses who work there as caregivers.
Meanwhile the Indian government has called for the de-escalation of the situation between Israel and Palestine.
TS Tirumurti, India’s ambassador to the UN, spoke earlier in the week when the UN Security Council debated the matter.
He said: “Immediate de-escalation is the need of the hour, so as to arrest any further slide towards the brink.
“We urge both sides to show extreme restraint, desist from actions that exacerbate tensions, and refrain from attempts to unilaterally change the existing status-quo, including in East Jerusalem and its neighbourhood.”
Historically, India supported Palestine’s
bid for independence and was the first non-Arab country to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
In the 1990s, relations between India and Israel started to grow.
According to Al Jazeera.com, ties between the two countries have “strengthened significantly” under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu.
In July 2017, Modi became the first ever Indian prime minister to visit Israel.
According to Al Jazeera.com there is growing support for Israel by some Hindu nationalists.
Hashtags like #ISupportIsrael, #IndiaWithIsrael, #IndiaStandsWithIsrael and #IsrealUnderFire have trended on Indian social media.
Over the weekend, #PalestineTerrorists was one of the top trends on Indian Twitter.