They were caregivers working in Israel, far away from their homes in Kerala, India. But on Oct 7, when Hamas launched an offensive in Israel, Ms Sabitha Baby and Ms Meera Mohanan became superheroes to the elderly couple under their care.
The Israeli embassy in New Delhi on Tuesday shared a video of Ms Sabitha detailing the harrowing experience and hailed her and Ms Meera as “Indian Superwomen”.
Ms Sabitha said she shielded Mr Ram Shmoulic, 85, and Ms Rahel, 76, when Hamas militants stormed their house in Nir Oz Kibbutz, a town in southern Israel just 2km from the Gaza border.
Ms Sabitha and Ms Meera held on to the door handle of the shelter room for almost five hours to prevent the militants from entering. They did not budge even when the militants tried to smash the door open, reported The New Indian Express.
They exited the shelter room only after Israeli forces secured the area. By then, all their neighbours had been shot dead or taken hostage.
The Malayalee women did not realise the significance of their brave act until the elderly couple’s children Itai and Dalit posted about it on Facebook.
Ms Sabitha, 39, recounted: “At 6.30am, we heard continuous sirens. We entered the safety room and locked the front and rear doors. We carried Mr Shmoulic, who is very weak due to sclerosis.
“By 7.30am, loud noises were heard outside, and Hamas militants entered our house and started firing at the shelter room. Meera and I stood behind the iron door and put our weight on it.”
Ms Meera, 34, said they stood behind the door until 1.30pm. “Fortunately, they could not destroy the iron door. God was with us.”
Earlier, at 9am, they heard voices shouting from outside: “We’re here to save you, come out.” But Ms Meera and Ms Sabitha did not open the door as they believed the Hamas forces were trying to trick them.
“It was a harrowing experience. I called my family in Kannur, my husband and two children, asking them to pray for us,” said Ms Sabitha.
“By 1.30pm, the Israeli Army secured the area, after which we came out. We were shocked to see the house in a dilapidated state.”
Ms Rahel’s two wheelchairs, a kettle, Ms Sabitha’s gold and all their passports were stolen.
When they came out of the building, they saw bodies everywhere.
The elderly couple and their caregivers were taken to a hospital.
“We were in the hospital for two days. Now we are in a care home. Mr Shmoulic and Ms Rahel are doing well,” said Ms Meera.
As the Israel-Hamas conflict intensifies, the nearly 7,000 Malayalees in Israel are living in fear, according to a member of the community.
“The only casualty among us has been a young woman who suffered injuries after a shell fell near the house where she lives as a caregiver,” said Mr Soloman, a member of the Israeli Malayalee Association.
“Unlike in the past, the current situation is serious. Many of the new arrivals, who are caregivers, find it difficult to adjust to the war-torn situation. The condition in the border towns such as Ashkelon and Beersheba is grim.”
The condition of Malayalee nurse Sheeja Anand, 41, who was injured in a missile attack in Ashkelon, is stable.
