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Indian killed by missile in Israel, two more hurt
Indian national killed, two injured in missile attack in Israel by Hezbollah. Indian govt urges citizens in border areas to relocate for safety.
New Delhi An Indian national was killed and two more were injured in a missile attack in Israel, prompting the Indian government to urge its citizens working in the border areas of northern and southern Israel to relocate to safer places.
Pat Nibin Maxwell, a 31-year-old resident of Kollam in Kerala, died when a missile fired from Lebanon struck an orchard in a collective agricultural community at Galilee in northern Israel on Monday morning. The missile was believed to have been fired by the Hezbollah, which has been launching rockets at northern Israel in support of Hamas in the ongoing war in Gaza.
The two injured Indians were identified as Bush Joseph George and Paul Melvin, both from Kerala, and PTI quoted officials as saying that George was taken to a hospital in Petah Tikva with injuries to his face and body, while Melvin, whose injuries were less severe, was hospitalised in the northern Israeli city of Safed.
There was no immediate word from Indian officials on the casualties. The Indian embassy in Israel, in a post on X, advised Indian nationals, “especially those working in or visiting border areas in the north and south”, to relocate to safer areas within the country. It said the advisory was issued in view of the “prevailing security situation and local safety advisories”.
“The Embassy remains in touch with the Israeli authorities to ensure the safety of all our nationals,” the post said.
Maxwell reportedly arrived in Israel two months ago and was working on a farm at the time of the attack. He is survived by a five-year-old daughter and his pregnant wife, Ammu, his relatives said.
Ammu said Maxwell’s brother informed her about the attack on Monday.
“All he said at the time was that Patnibin was hospitalised with grievous injuries. There was no word for several hours. Around midnight, he called back to say his brother passed away. It is such a big loss for our family,” she told HT over phone from the family residence in Vaddy in Kollam city.
She recalled spending much of the past year on tenterhooks as violence engulfed West Asia.
“We could hear the sounds of bombs during phone calls. They said violence was continuing in the region. But they were forced to go due to the family’s financial distress. He was earlier was employed in the Gulf, but lost his job during the pandemic and had to return home. He tried to make a living in Kerala for some time but it wasn’t working out. He was earning well in Israel,” said Ammu.
The Israeli embassy in India, in a post on X, said it was “deeply shocked and saddened” by the death of an Indian national and the injury of two others due to a “cowardly terror attack” launched by Hezbollah on peaceful agriculture workers at an orchard in a northern village.
“Our prayers and thoughts naturally go to the families of the bereaved and those of the injured. Israeli medical institutions are completely at the service of the injured who are being treated by our very best medical staff. Israel regards equally all nationals, Israeli or foreign, who are injured or killed due to terrorism,” the post said.
At the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict, there were about 18,000 Indian nationals living in Israel. This included caregivers for elders, IT professionals, diamond traders and some 900 students. Despite initial concerns about the security situation following the deaths of Nepalese and Sri Lankan nationals in the violence, most of the Indians opted to remain in Israel.
Hamas killed around 1,200 people and kidnapped around 250 during the terror attacks. Some of the hostages were released during a brief ceasefire last year. However, the death toll in Gaza due to Israeli bombardment has crossed 30,000, and the mounting civilian casualties have led to calls from India and other countries for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
India recently expressed deep shock at the killing of more than 100 people in firing by Israeli troops on a crowd that had gathered near aid trucks in Gaza city, describing the loss of civilian lives as a cause for “extreme concern”.
