45-member holy trip group from Kerala among Indians stranded in Israel

News Network

October 8, 2023

A holy trip group from Kerala is among those stranded in Israel amid the latter's conflict with Hamas.

A 45-member holy trip group that went from Kerala on October 3 is stranded in the strife-torn Israel. Some of the group members sent video messages to their relatives conveying that they were safe at hotels.

The group was on their way to Egypt on Saturday when the tension broke out. As directed by Israel security forces they returned to the hotel. They are also in touch with the Indian embassy officials in Tel Aviv.

There are also unconfirmed reports that the other holy trip groups from Kerala are also stranded there.

Earlier, there were reports that many Malayalis who went on similar holy trips to Israel had illegally migrated.

According to the Kerala government agency for NRIs, NORKA-Roots, there are around 7,000 Malayalis in Israel.

NORKA-Roots' chief executive officer Harikrishnan Namboothiri told DH that he was in constant touch with Malayali associations in Israel. They were advised by security to remain in shelters.

A large number of Malayali women are working as nurses in Israel. In 2021, a nurse from Idukki district, Soumya Santosh, was killed in a rocket attack in Israel.

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In meeting with Zohran Mamdani, Trump repeats claim he stopped India-Pak war

Agencies

November 22,2025

New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump has again claimed to have solved the conflict between India and Pakistan, repeating his assertion during a meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office.

Mamdani flew to Washington DC for his first meeting with Trump in the White House on Friday. Trump said he “enjoyed” the meeting, which he described as “great.”

During remarks in the Oval Office, with Mamdani standing next to him, Trump repeated his claim that he solved the May conflict between India and Pakistan.

"I did eight peace deals of countries, including India and Pakistan,” he said.

On Wednesday, Trump had said he threatened to put 350 per cent tariffs on India and Pakistan if they did not end their conflict, repeating his claim that he solved the fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called him to say “we're not going to go to war.”

Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 60 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.

India has consistently denied any third-party intervention. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

Mamdani emerged victorious in the closely-watched battle for New York City Mayor, becoming the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected to sit at the helm of the largest city in the US.

He had been the front-runner in the NYC Mayoral election for months and defeated Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and political heavyweight former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent candidate and was officially endorsed by Trump just hours before the elections.

Indian-descent Mamdani is the son of renowned filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani. He was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda and moved to New York City with his family when he was 7. Mamdani became a naturalised US citizen only recently, in 2018.

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