UNITED NATIONS, 16 May 2021, (TON) At UNSC, while mourning the death of an Indian nurse in Israel, India condemns rocket attack by Palestinian that killed her along with three other persons.
India’s Permanent Representative T. S. Tirumurti on Sunday instead of condemning Israeli brutality, condemned the rocket attacks from Gaza that killed her. He called Israeli attacks as, “retaliatory attacks by Israel.”

Indian claims that Soumya Santosh, who is from Kerala, was killed in Ashkelon inside Israel by the rocket launched reportedly by the Hamas organisation from Gaza last week.

The Council met in a virtual session as the situation in the Israel-Palestine-Gaza region spiralled into a violent crisis, with reports that before the session, Israeli air strikes had killed at least 40 people, some of them children, Indian representative said, “India has also lost one of her nationals living in Israel in this rocket fire — a caregiver in Ashkelon. We deeply mourn her demise along with all other civilians who have lost their lives in the current cycle of violence.”

He said, “The indiscriminate rocket firings from Gaza targeting the civilian population in Israel, which we condemn, and the retaliatory strikes into Gaza, have caused immense suffering, and resulted in deaths.

He called for an immediate de-escalation of the situation to stop “any further slide to the brink” and the resumption of dialogue between the parties to the conflict.

He said that Jerusalem has a special place in the hearts of Indians and added that attempts should not be made to change the status quo in East Jerusalem and its neighbourhood.

He mentioned the presence of an India-associated in Jerusalem’s old city. New Delhi had restored the Al Zawiyya Al Hindiyya, the Indian hospice associated with Indian Sufi saint Baba Farid and added,

At the UNSC session presided over China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: “Fighting must stop. It must stop immediately. Rockets and mortars on one side and aerial and artillery bombardments on the other must stop. I appeal to all parties to heed this call.”