Caregiver from Kerala's Idukki killed in Hamas rocket attack in Israel

By Asianet Newsable English  |  First Published May 11, 2021, 10:53 PM IST

Soumya Santhosh, hailing from Idukki, Kerala, was on the phone with her husband when the rocket struck the apartment she was in.


An Indian caregiver has been killed in a Hamas rocket attack at Ashkelon in Israel.

Thirty-one-year-old Soumya Santosh, hailing from Idukki, Kerala was on the phone with her husband when the rocket struck the apartment she was in.

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The wheelchair-borne elderly lady who Soumya was taking care of was also killed in the attack.

Soumya's mortal remains are at a hospital in Bursail, Ashkelon. 

Soumya had been working as a caregiver at Ashkelon for the last ten years. Soumya last visited India in 2017. Soumya's husband and son are at home. The Malayali community in the region is deeply concerned about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hundreds of rockets have been fired at Israel from Monday evening through Tuesday afternoon, many of which were intercepted by Iron Dome missile defence batteries. 

Some of the rockets that missed slammed into the apartment building Souma was in.

One of the rockets also landed in an empty school.

The current escalation of violence between Israel and Palestine, which began Monday against the backdrop of violence in East Jerusalem, is the worst since 2019. Tensions shifted from East Jerusalem to Gaza after Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza vowed to retaliate for Israeli assaults on Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, if the attacks are not halted.

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