Pat Nibin Maxwell hails from the fishing community of Vaddy in Kollam and he went to Israel to work on a farm, in the second week of January.
Patnibin Maxwell. (Supplied)
Indian national Pat Nibin Maxwell, who was killed by an anti-tank missile in Israel, hails from a fisherman family of Vaddy near Thangassey fishing harbour in Kerala’s southern district Kollam.
The missile was allegedly fired from Lebanon and struck an orchard near Israel’s northern border community of Margaliot on Monday, 4 March.
He leaves behind a seven-month-old pregnant wife, a five-year-old daughter, ageing parents, and two brothers.
When South First contacted Pat Nibin’s father, Antony Maxwell, he revealed that Pat Nibin was his second son and that he had travelled to Israel during the second week of January at the behest of his older brother Nevin, who had reached there during the first week of the month.
Before proceeding to Israel, Pat Nibin worked at construction sites in Dubai and Muscat. The job in Israel was his third job, and that too in a new terrain — agricultural activities.
As per the information received by the family, the alleged Lebanese missile hit a plantation in Margaliot, a moshav (collective agricultural community), in the Galilee region in the north of Israel, where Pat Nibin was working, at around 11 am local time on Monday.
Pat Nibin’s wife received information that he sustained an injury in a missile attack at around 4 pm IST on Monday, said Maxwell.
However, Nevin contacted Maxwell around midnight and conveyed that Pat Nibin was no more.
Maxwell said the information had left Pat Nibin’s family in an incoherent state of mental trauma, and the news about the death was not conveyed to his wife.
Nevin and a relative of Nibin’s wife, who also works at a similar farm in Israel, have already reached the hospital in which the body is being kept, the father said.
The father, quoting his elder son, said that it may take four more days to bring in the dead body to Vaddy. Additionally, he claimed that the Israeli embassy in India has not yet gotten in touch with the family, leaving them entirely dependent on the details given by Nevin and the other relative.
Maxwell said a number of Keralaites working in Israel have arrived at the hospital and are supervising the efforts to get the body back to Kollam.
Pat Nibin left for Israel after finding the work in Muscat and Dubai tough. He had also informed the family that the agricultural farm and plantation work there were satisfying to him. He wanted to finish the remaining construction work on his partially completed home by working in Israel.
Pat Nibin’s mortal remains are now being kept at Ziv Hospital, in the northern Israeli city of Safed
Meanwhile, the whereabouts of Bush Joseph George and Paul Melvin, who were injured and undergoing treatment at hospitals, remain unavailable even to the NORKA (Department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs) under the Kerala government. As per the available information, they hail from the Idukki district.
“George was taken to the Beilinson hospital in Petah Tikva after suffering injuries to his face and body. He underwent an operation, is recovering well, and has been kept under observation,” reported PTI, quoting some sources.
Melvin was slightly injured and is hospitalised at Ziv Hospital.
The attack is believed to have been carried out by the Shi’ite Hezbollah faction in Lebanon, which has been launching rockets, missiles, and drones at northern Israel daily since 8 October in support of Hamas amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli government confirmed that seven foreign workers were injured altogether in the attack, two of them seriously, and were taken to Beilinson, Rambam, and Ziv hospitals in their ambulances and Israeli Air Force helicopters.
Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Monday said they responded by shelling the launch site with artillery.
The IDF also said it struck a Hezbollah compound where members of the group were gathered in the southern Lebanon town of Chihine, and another site belonging to Hezbollah in Ayta ash-Shab.
Hezbollah has been launching attacks on Israel’s northern communities and military posts since 8 October, saying it is doing so to support Gaza.
The skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah have resulted in the deaths of seven civilians and 10 IDF soldiers on the Israeli side.
In recent flare-ups, Israel has killed 229 members of Hezbollah. Most of the casualties on the Hezbollah side happened in Lebanon, but there were also some in Syria.
Another 37 operatives from other groups, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 30 civilians have also been killed since 8 October.
After the escalation of tension between Hamas and Israel, a Keralite woman caretaker hailing from Sreekandapuram in Kannur was seriously injured in missile attacks. Two years ago, another carer from Idukki had succumbed to missile attack injuries.
(With inputs from PTI)
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