Indians in the Gaza Strip are safe, though "concerned", with the Indian mission in Tel Aviv constantly monitoring their situation since violence flared up in the coastal enclave twelve days ago, leaving more than 650 people dead, including almost a third of them children.
"The Indian mission has been in touch with us and it gives us a lot of strength. We are very concerned with the developments and hear gunshots and exploding shells all around us with some shrapnels even falling in our backyard, but are so far unharmed," an Indian woman from New Delhi, now living in the Gaza city with her Palestinian husband and two children, told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
"The mission has extended all help in case we want to leave Gaza but the thought of leaving my husband alone in this situation is scary. My children have Indian passports so they do not have any problems," she said.
Another Indian woman from Kashmir, also married to a Palestinian, said she is afraid that she "may not be able to come back soon" if she leaves the territory now.
"Two of my three children do not have Indian passports, so I will have to leave them here with my husband which is not an option at the moment though it seems to be getting really hard with each passing day. I am worried about my kids," she said.
{{/usCountry}}"Two of my three children do not have Indian passports, so I will have to leave them here with my husband which is not an option at the moment though it seems to be getting really hard with each passing day. I am worried about my kids," she said.
{{/usCountry}}Two nuns serving in Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charities have a moral dilemma with the thoughts of evacuating.
"We are very uncomfortable with the thought leaving all these handicapped children and old age people we work with in the middle of a crisis. We are staying," sister Chalen, hailing from Kunnoor district, told.