Wife Injured In Israel's Ashkelon, Indian Man's Appeal To Government

Anandan PP's wife is undergoing surgery at a hospital in Israel's Ashkelon. "She can't move, she can't sit. She has gone through multiple operations," Anandan, 47, told NDTV from their home in Kerala.

Sheeja Anandan, 41, has been working as a caretaker for an elderly Israeli woman for the last 1.5 years. She has been working in Israel for the last seven years. Shards of rockets pierced through her body last Saturday, the day Hamas began its massive offensive against Israel. She was preparing a meal for the woman she worked for.

'My wife is in no position to return to India any time soon, despite Operation Ajay. She has gone through three surgeries. There have been surgeries on her back, her leg, her chest," Mr Anandan said.

India has started getting her citizens back from Israel as the war with Hamas entered the fifth day. The first batch of Indians from Israel will arrive on Friday.

"I was on a video call with my wife on Saturday when she told me that she could see a rocket. I told her to move to a safe place. But as we were speaking, the rocket hit her house. The phone line got disconnected. I tried calling her again several times but couldn't get through. It was only much later I got to know that she was hospitalised. I could speak to her only after her 3 surgeries," he recalled.

Even as repatriation of Indian has begun, Anandan has a different request. "Since my wife is in no medical condition to return, I have just one request to the Government of India -- if I can meet my wife in Israel".

NDTV reached Ashkelon -- a coastal city just a few kilometres from the Gaza Strip – on Sunday and experienced the distress of the locals.

Located on the Mediterranean coast, Ashkelon is known for its archaeological site and the world's largest seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant.

But the city appears deserted. The silence is perforated by blasts from Hamas rockets stopped by the Iron Dome with almost a metronomic regularity.