Kerala woman killed in Hamas mortar shell attack in Israel

Soumya Santosh
Soumya Santosh

A Kerala woman working in Israel was killed in a mortar shell attack by the Hamas group near Ashkelon bordering the Gaza strip.

The woman was identified as Soumya Santhosh (32), a native of Keerithodu in Idukki.

She was working as a caregiver here for the past seven years.

The attack occurred at 5:30 pm (IST). Soumya was then on a video call with her husband Santhosh back in Kerala.

She was informing him about the increasing violence in the region when a mortar shell landed on top of her building.

"My brother heard a huge sound during the video call. Suddenly the phone got disconnected. Then we immediately contacted fellow Malayalees working there. Thus we came to know about the incident," Santhosh's brother Saji said.

An elderly Israeli woman whom Soumya was taking care of was also killed in the attack.

They were preparing to seek shelter in a bunker when the attack happened.

Soumya's relatives were informed of her death by Sherly Benny, her sister-in-law who also works in Israel.

Newly-elected MLA and Nationalist Congress Kerala leader Mani C Kappan condemned the incident.

In a Facebook post, Kappan, who is representing Pala seat in the Kerala Assembly, said thousands of Keralites working in Israel were living in fear.

He also sought intervention of the Central and state governments in the issue.

The recent clash between Israel and Palestine had been going on for two weeks now.

Around 30 people including 9 kids have lost their lives and several hundreds were injured in the many mortar-missile attacks.

Soumya is the daughter of former Kanjikuzhy panchayat member Satish and Savithri. Her last visit to Kerala was in 2017.

She is survived by her husband and an 8-year-old son.

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.