Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia for family of Soumya Santhosh, killed by Hamas rocket in Israel

Nearly two weeks after an Indian citizen lost her life in the barrage of rocket fire opened by Hamas on the Gaza strip, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has announced that the family of Soumya Suresh will receive Rs 4 lakh compensation as part of the agreement between Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA) and New India Insurance Company, as she was a holder of the Pravasi ID card. In the Rs 4 lakh insurance cover, Rs 1 lakh would be under NORKA's Santhwana Scheme. The 30-year-old Indian woman, hailing from Kerala’s Idukki district, was among the victims of a rocket attack on May 11. 

Soumya Suresh 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. Her mortal remains were repatriated to India within days with MoS V Muraleedharan receiving the same in the national capital. After Soumya Suresh's mortal remains were brought back home, a funeral was held at Nithya Sahaya Matha Church in Keerithodu of Idukki district. 

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. Moreover, Suresh's death due to the barrage of rocket fire from Hamas aimed at the Gaza strip also found mention in India's address at the United Nations, wherein the Ambassador called for immediate de-escalation and condemned the violence.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire

On May 21, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Security Cabinet approved a unilateral ceasefire to halt an 11-day military operation in the Gaza Strip which was later agreed to by Hamas. The latest tensions between the two neighbours were ignited when Palestinians protested attempts by settlers to forcibly evict a number of Palestinian families from their homes and Israeli police measures at Al-Aqsa Mosque. 

In retaliation to the police action, Hamas fired more than 4,000 rockets, most either fell short or were intercepted by Israeli air defence system - 'The Iron Dome', while Israel's warplanes and artillery have struck hundreds of targets around blockaded Gaza. Israel's fatalities have remained at 12 while 232 died in Gaza including 65 children. In the aftermath of the 11-day Israel-Hamas war, India on Thursday abstained from voting on the resolution at the 47-member United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session to set up a Commission of Inquiry on human rights violation in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank.

Kerala Governor's Policy Address

Meanwhile, the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government on Friday promised to raise farmers' income by 50 per cent in the next five years and ensure there would be no landless people in Kerala even as it admitted that the COVID-19 pandemic would cost the state economy dearly. All welfare and development initiatives and mammoth infrastructure projects, launched by the previous government including the flagship K-FON programme to provide free hi-speed internet to the poor families, would be completed in a time-bound manner despite financial constraints, it said. The priorities of the second consecutive Left government were presented by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan in his policy address at the state Assembly.