Sheeja Anand sustained injuries to her stomach, hands, and legs on Saturday; pilgrims to Holy Land are stranded in the West Asian country.
An Israeli soldier runs past a burning vehicle after a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Palestinian Hamas movement, landed in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on May 11, 2021. (Supplied)
Kerala is watching the war in West Asia with fingers crossed even as Israel pounded the Palestinian enclave of Gaza in one of the deadliest military operations in the region since 1973.
The South Indian state felt the heat of the war after a 36-year-old nurse from Sreekandapuram in Kannur district sustained injuries in the continuing rocket attacks between the Israel Defence Forces and Hamas, a Palestinian fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organisation.
The Malayali woman, Sheeja Anand, sustained injuries to her stomach, hands, and legs on Saturday, 7 October, in a Hamas attack on Israel’s Ashkelon region, some 13 km from Gaza.
She has been working as a caregiver in a nursing home. Her friends informed her family back home about the incident on Sunday morning.
Her family was told that Sheeja underwent emergency surgery on her legs and hands. She was initially admitted to Barzilai Medical Centre and was later shifted to a Tel Aviv hospital. The woman spoke to her mother on Sunday evening and said she was stable.
Several Malayali nurses are working in Israel as caregivers. Additionally, pilgrims from Kerala frequent the Holy Land. While some of them reached Egypt safely, several others were still believed to be stranded in Israel.
Sheeja Anand was initially admitted to the Barzilai Medical Centre before being shifted to Tel Aviv. (Facebook)
Meanwhile, the Department of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs (NoRKA) confirmed that a pilgrim group from the state is in Israel. Officials said they were safe and in touch with their families back home.
The 45-member pilgrim group from Central Kerala reached Israel after visiting Jordan and Palestine. They had left Kerala on 3 October. The tour operator informed the Department of Non-Resident Keralites’ Affairs (NoRKA) that the team was safe in a hotel and was in touch with the Indian Embassy.
The team said they could not leave the hotel as the Israeli army had denied them permission. The Indian government has asked Indian nationals to be in contact with the embassy, even as Nepal said 10 of its students were killed in the conflict.
The tension broke out a day before the pilgrim group was to depart for Egypt.
Southern Israel, now under a surprise attack, has a significant presence of Indians employed, especially as nurses and caregivers.
Kerala has over 40 travel agencies that regularly take pilgrims to Israel. Many take the pilgrimage as a cover for illegal migration as well.
NoRKA officials said there are around 7,000 Malayalis working in Israel. Its chief executive officer, Harikrishnan Namboothiri, said the department was in constant touch with Malayali associations in Israel.
The army there has advised them to stay in shelters. When similar tension escalated in May 2021, a 30-year-old woman from Idukki was killed in a rocket attack.
The deceased, Soumya Santosh, was also a caregiver in the southern Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon. Soumya had been working in Israel for over seven years, while her nine-year-old son stayed with his father in Idukki.
Her family said she was on a video call with her husband, Santosh, when the incident occurred. “My brother heard a huge sound during the video call. Suddenly, the phone got disconnected.
Then, we immediately contacted fellow Malayalis working there. They informed us of the death,” Santosh’s brother Saji recalled.
WhatsApp messages carrying voice clips from trapped Indians in Israel, circulating in Kerala, spoke about the situation in the rocket-pummelled south and parts of central Israel.
The messages also said Indians were sheltering themselves in Merkhav Mugans — also known as miklat or mammad — the mandatory fortified secure rooms in buildings. They said several Hamas militants infiltrated Israel in SUVs, motorcycles, and paragliders, indiscriminately firing at civilians.
Officials in Kerala said several people from the state have found jobs in Israel without documents, and hence the number of people affected by the developments would be much higher.
Ashokan Nair, a caregiver from Muvattupuzha in the Ernakulam district, told his relatives in Kerala over the phone that the situation would turn favourable for Israel in the coming days as it has more resources and international support this time. He has been living in Israel for the past 15 years.
Meanwhile, Air India suspended its schedules to Tel Aviv till 14 October. It evacuated its 10 crew members and two other employees. They boarded an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Addis Ababa.
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