The President of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, on Tuesday (18 May) called up the family of Soumya Santosh, a caregiver from Kerala who lost her life during a Hamas strike in Israel on 11 May.

Rivlin telephoned Soumya's husband Santosh and his sister Sophie and expressed condolences on behalf of the Israel government and its people.

Hailing from Idukki in Kerala, Santosh (30), who worked as a caregiver to an 83-year-old Holocaust survivor in Israel, was among those killed in a rocket attack by the Palestinian Islamist group on 11 May.

Sophie, who had worked as a caregiver in Israel for 13 years before returning to Kerala four months back, told IANS, "The President of Israel called us and expressed condolences on behalf of the people of Israel. The President told us that the people of Israel are with us and that the government of Israel will stand with the family at this time of grief and extend all its support to us."

It may be noted that the Consul General of Israel to south India, Jonathan Zadka, had met the family of Soumya and expressed his condolences. He had told mediapersons that Soumya was an angel who was killed in a terror attack on the people of Israel.

Zadka told IANS on Tuesday, "From our part, I can only say that President Reuven Rivlin called Santosh earlier today to convey his condolence and show solidarity of the people of Israel with the family. He spoke to him conveying his sympathies and condolences for the loss of Soumya in a terror attack."

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)