The Israel Embassy in India has praised two women in Kerala for saving the lives of an elderly couple in Israel from attackers on October 7. In a post on X platform, Israel Embassy in India said Sabitha and Meera Mohanan, two caregivers working in Nir Oz Kibbutz, situated 2km away from Gaza, saved the civilians by “holding on to the door handle and preventing the Hamas terrorists from bursting in and killing them.” The embassy also shared a video of Sabitha explaining the attack. The post in Hindi referred to the woman as ‘Bharatiya Veerangana’ or ‘Indian superwomen’.
Sabitha, a native of Keezhapally in the Kannur district of Kerala had been working in Israel for the past three years and taking care of en elderly women called Rahel with ALS disease (A nervous system disease that weakens muscles and impacts physical function). The attack happened on October 7 morning. Sirens to warn people to take refuge in the safety room were sounded around 6.30am when she was about to leave after completing her night duty.
“We heard the sirens at 6.30 am and we ran to the safety room. It was non-stop. Suddenly I got a call from Rahel’s daughter saying that things were out of our hands. We didn’t know what to do, she asked us to lock the front and back doors,’’ Sabitha said in the video.
Around 7.30am, attackers from Hamas had allegedly broke into their house and started to shoot and break glass and other things. The women held the door when Hamas militants tried to hit and shoot to open it.
“We didn’t know anything. We held on to the door removing our slippers to get a grip on the floor. It lasted four hours and 30 minutes. We tried our best to keep holding on to the door. They hit and shot at the door, and they destroyed everything”, Sabitha said. At 1 pm soldiers of the Israeli Defense Force arrived and rescued them.
“The house was completely destroyed, they looted everything including Meera’s passport and my emergency bag (where they keep important documents). We knew that there would be missile strikes and we needed to keep our emergency bag inside the safety room but we didn’t get time for anything. I never expected this as never in my life had I faced a terrorist attack,” she said.
The video of Sabitha narrating the ordeal became viral on social media and several people appreciated the women for the courage they showed.
The war between Palestinian militant groups led by Hamas and Israel began on October 7, 2023.