Israel Deputy Envoy Says Late Kerala Woman's Family Will Be Taken Care Of

Israel's Deputy Envoy Rony Yedidia Clein said the Ambassador spoke to the late Kerala woman Soumya Santosh’s family and conveyed his condolences. Santosh worked as a caregiver in Israel and was killed in a rocket attack by Palestinian militants from Gaza.

Rony Yedidia Clein said that they were in touch with Kerala woman Soumya Santosh’s family and the embassy in Tel Aviv was arranging to have her body flown back to India. She added that the Israeli authorities would take care of Santosh’s family in compensation for their loss. Clein also said that she could only sympathise with what Santosh’s husband was feeling as he was speaking to her when the airstrike happened.

Ambassador Ron Malka took to Twitter and said that “The whole country is mourning her loss & we are here for them.”

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that they were in touch with the Indian Embassy in Israel to ensure that Santosh’s body was brought back to Kerala and handed over to her family.

Kerala woman Soumya Santosh was working as a caregiver and attending to an 80-year-old woman who also lost her life in the airstrike. When the rocket fell, she was on a video call with her husband in Kerala. A rocket shelter was approximately a minute away from the house, but the two were unable to reach it in time.

Santosh is survived by her husband and her 9-year-old son in Kerala. Her husband’s brother said that her phone disconnected suddenly during the video call and that they contacted Malayalees that were working in Israel. He also said that they contacted the embassy with Dean Kuriakose’s help and arrangements to bring her body home were made.

Santosh’s sister-in-law who also works in Israel said that the “mortar shell landed on the house and the entire building was completely destroyed.”