At least 10 Nepali students have been killed in the Saturday’s Hamas invasion of Israel, an official of the Nepal Embassy in Israel confirmed on Sunday. Earlier, there were reports that some Nepali students have gone missing after Hamas attack in southern Israel.
“Around 10 Nepali students died in the ongoing situation in Israel,” news agency ANI quoted a Nepal Embassy in Israel official as saying.
More than 600 Israelis have died since Saturday when Hamas militants launched surprise attack in Israel. According to Israeli government, around 2000 people have been wounded in the attack and 100, including women and children, are being held hostage by Hamas militants.
Israel has declared a state of war and launched retaliatory strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed “might vengeance” for what he called a black day.
On Saturday morning, Israelis woke up to loud sirens as Iran-backed Islamist militant outfit Hamas fired some 5000 rockets towards Israel from the Gaza Strip. However, Israel’s Iron Dom, which is one of the best air-defence systems in the world, detected a majority of them and only a few struck the country.
The rocket barrages caught Israel off guard and as they could understand the situation, hundreds of Hamas militants, armed with assault rifles, invaded from different locations.
While some entered in SUVs, motocycles and trucks via Gaza border, others took the aerial route and paraglided into Southern Israel. One group used the sea route and entered the city on boats – similar to the 26/11 Mumbai attack.
Israeli military launched “Operation Iron Swords” to regain full control of invaded areas and launched retaliatory air strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.
Giving details about Israel’s counter offensive, IDF said, it carried out several operational activities in Gaza in response to the brutal terrorist offensive against Israel launched by Hamas.
At 12:00 am on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, IDF fighter jets struck a concealed launch site and targeted 2 terrorists near it, followed by another air strike on two operational situation rooms located inside mosques, used by Hamas in Gaza.
So far, Israel has destroyed dozens of Hamas targets and killed around 400 Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. As Israel plans to finish off Hamas, they have asked civilians in Gaza to flee their homes.