Israel.Four Nepali students studying in Israel have been injured and 11 are still missing after Hamas militants attacked a farm, Foreign Minister N P Saud said on Sunday. The minister said there was a possibility of casualties among the missing students studying in the southern part of Israel. Israel on Saturday morning witnessed a surprise and unprecedented attack by the Hamas group that rules the Gaza Strip on its southern parts. At least 600 people, including soldiers, have been killed in Israel and more than 1,900 injured – the deadliest day for the country in at least 50 years. Israel’s retaliatory strikes in the Gaza Strip have caused nearly 300 deaths and nearly 1,500 injuries, media reports said Sunday. Foreign Minister Saud told PTI, “Contact with the 11 Nepali students could not be established and they are feared to be seriously injured.” “We are trying to find out the exact number of casualties,” he said.
There were 17 Nepali students in Kibbutz Alumim in southern Israel as part of the Learn and Earn program. According to External Affairs Ministry sources, two of the 17 managed to escape safely and four of them sustained injuries. Sources said that the injured Nepalese students are undergoing treatment in the hospital. Currently 4,500 Nepalese are working as caregivers and 265 Nepalese students are currently working in various agricultural firms under the Learn and Earn scheme. The Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the attack carried out by the Hamas group in Israel. The Nepal government has taken the incident seriously, the ministry said in a statement. According to the ministry, the Government of Nepal has formed a mechanism under the chairmanship of Saud aimed at rescuing Nepali citizens currently in Israel. “The mechanism will continuously monitor the situation, evaluate the situations faced by Nepali citizens, take necessary decisions regarding rescue operations and effectively coordinate and cooperate,” Saud told parliament on Sunday.
