Palestinian militants rocket attack kills Indian woman in Israel

AN Indian woman (30) in Israel has been killed in a rocket attack by Palestinian militants from Gaza.

Since Monday evening Gaza-based militants fired hundreds of rockets on Israel. At least 31 people were killed in spiraling violence till 9 PM (local time) on Tuesday.

Ashkelon, which borders the Gaza Strip, has come under massive fire from the Palestinian militants.

Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes at Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in the coastal strip.

The Indian woman was said to be living in Israel for the last seven years. She has a nine-year-old son whom she had left with her husband in Kerala.

The deadly rocket attack directly struck the house of the elderly woman.

Ashkelon's Mayor Tomer Glam said that some 25 per cent of the residents do not have access to a protected area when rockets are fired at the city.

It is impossible when normal life becomes a state of emergency within minutes, Glam told Army Radio.

There are houses from the 1960s where there is no basic protection. It is time for treasury officials and decision-makers to understand what is happening here in the city, he stressed

Israel's ambassador to India Ron Malka on Tuesday took to Twitter to condole the Indian woman's death.

“On behalf of the state of Israel, I convey heartfelt condolences to the family of Ms. Soumya Santosh, murdered by Hamas indiscriminate terror attack on innocent lives. Our hearts are crying with her 9 years old son that lost his mother in this cruel Terrorist attack,” he said in a tweet.

According to Soumya's family in Kerala, she was talking to her husband Santhosh over a video call in the evening when the incident took place. "My brother heard a huge sound during the video call. Suddenly the phone got disconnected. Then we immediately contacted fellow Malayalees working there. Thus, we came to know about the incident," Santhosh's brother Saji told PTI.