As Hamas fires rockets into Israel, Kerala on tenterhooks

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 7: As the news of Palestinian militant group Hamas declaring a new military operation against Israel and firing a barrage of missiles towards the Jewish state from the Gaza Strip broke out, tension gripped numerous Kerala homes that have their family members eking out a living in the country.

A Keralite settled in Israel, who came live on TV channels, said since Saturday morning many Malayalee nurses in Israel are a worried lot.

“According to estimates there are around 6,000 Keralaites, mostly nurses. In many places there are bunkers and many have started to move into it and are eagerly waiting for this impasse to end,” said the Keralaite.

Israel of late, especially in the past few years, has been the favourite destination for Kerala nurses as apart from working in hospitals, many are employed as caregivers to the elderly people living alone.

A Kerala woman nurse who has been working in Israel said she has been working for the past eight years. “I am now speaking from the bunker and can hear the sounds of explosions. There have been such situations in the past, but this time it appears it’s very strong. At the moment we have supplies to last a while in the bunkers,” she said.

Another Kerala nurse working close to Jerusalem said Saturday was the first day in a long time that such a thing has happened. “We have been told that whenever there are issues, an alarm will be given and when it comes , all should move to safe zones,” said the nurse.

The Indian Embassy there has started a control room. Meanwhile, the husband of a Kerala nurse working in Israel after watching the news on TV when contacted by his wife said at the moment where she is residing things are normal.

“She said utmost caution has been sounded due to the developments that began on Saturday morning and alerts will be provided on mobiles. Issues are in the borders, but a general caution has been sounded,” he said.