Indian citizen from Kerala killed in Hamas firing

An Indian citizen named Soumya Santhosh hailing from Kerala was killed and dozens of Israeli citizens were injured when Hamas a Palestinian Islamic terror group in the Gaza Strip fired massive barrages of rockets at southern Israel on Tuesday (11 May).

After the rocket attack, the Israeli defence forces retaliated by airstrikes on terror targeting the Gaza strip and known Hamas positions.

This is the worst outbreak of violence in Israel in the last four years after United States President Joe Biden of the democratic party completed a tumultuous 100 days in his new office. It must be noted that there are several Democratic politicians in the Senate and the Congress who are anti-Israel and the and the Biden administration plans to provide $235 million of aid to Palestinians.

Ambassador of Israel to India, Ron Malka in said, “I just spoke to the family of Soumya Santosh, victim of Hamas terrorist strike. I expressed my sorrow for their unfortunate loss & extended my condolences on behalf of Israel. The whole country is mourning her loss & we are here for them,”.

Malka then said, “My heart goes out to her 9-yr-old son, Adon who has lost his mother at such a young age & will have to grow up without her. This evil attack reminds me of little Moses, who lost his parents during 2008 Mumbai attacks. May God give them strength & courage,”.

The cross-border violence erupted after weeks of rising tensions in the historic city of Jerusalem. Hamas, which is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist organisation

Hamas on Tuesday claimed it fired 137 rockets in five minutes in an apparent attempt to overwhelm the Iron Dome missile defense system. One such barrage of rockets that were fired on the southern coastal city of Ashkelon.

The deadly rocket attack against the civilian population directly struck a home where 32 years old Soumya Santhosh lived as a caregiver to an 80-year-old woman.  Santhosh was killed in the attack while her elderly who she was in charge was hospitalized in serious condition, reports Times of Israel.

Santosh who is from Kerala as per reports is survived by her husband and nine-year-old daughter.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan spoke with the family of Santhosh and conveyed his deep condolences at her tragic demise due to the rocket attacks from Gaza.

“We have condemned these attacks and the violence in Jerusalem, and urged restraint by both sides,” Muraleedharan said on Twitter.