Funeral of Soumya Santhosh, killed in Hamas rocket attack, held at church in Kerala

The funeral of India's Soumya Santosh who lost her life in the rocket attack in Israel's Ashkelon was held at Nithya Sahaya Matha Church in Keerithodu of Idukki district on Sunday. The woman’s mortal remains were brought to her Kanjiramthanam residence near Adimali in Idukki earlier in the day.

Jonathan Zadka, consul general of Israel to South India, visited Soumya's home at Keerithodu to pay his respects and extend condolences to her family. The Consulate General of Israel to Bengaluru also extended its condolences to the family at loss in a tweet.

"Honoured to pay my respects and convey our sympathies to the family and friends of Soumya Santosh as she was laid to rest in her hometown Keerithod, Kerala. May she RIP our prayers are with the family that lost an angel in a cowardly Hamas terror attack," Zadka tweeted.

After Soumya’s mortal remains arrived at the Delhi airport, Union Minister V Muraleedharan and Rony Yedidia Clein, Israel's Deputy Envoy paid floral tributes to the departed soul. “I empathise with the pain and sufferings of Soumya’s family. More strength to them,” Muraleedharan tweeted.

The 30-year-old Indian woman, hailing from Kerala’s Idukki district, was among the victims of a rocket attack on Israel by a Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Tuesday. She worked as a caretaker to an elderly woman at a house in the Ashkelon, which borders the Gaza strip. She had been living in Israel for the last seven years, while her husband and nine-year-old son live in Kerala.

'Palestinian terror is blind'

Israel's Consul General in Mumbai, Ya'akov Finkelstein had condoled the incident and slammed the 'blind' Palestinian terror over the ongoing attacks. “The unfortunate killing of Soumya Santosh in Israel is said reminder that Palestinian terror is blind... From about 1,000 rockets, about 200 of them exploded in Gaza itself. You see, Hamas is making a double war crime, using all the population as a human shield and deliberately targeting Israeli women and children,” Ya'akov Finkelstein said. 

Before Finkelstein, Israeli Ambassador India Ron Malka condoled her death and said that he spoke with the woman’s family. "The whole country is mourning her loss and we are here for them, " he said.

Israel's Iron Dome Missiles have been pounding Gaza with counter airstrikes as Gaza continues to send a heavy barrage of rockets into the country. The ongoing violence between Israel and Palestine marks a dramatic escalation to the tensions linked to the alleged eviction of Palestinian families from East Jerusalem by Israeli settlers and access to one of the most sacred sites in the city, which is a key hub for Islam, Judaism and Christianity.

(With inputs from agency)