Pune's Jewish community worried about safety of relatives, families in Israel

PUNE: Members of the Bene Israel community staying in Pune are concerned about the safety of their relatives and family members in Israel amidst the ongoing war against Hamas. They are offering prayers in the local synagogue, Succath Shelomo Synagogue in Pune.

Chazzan of Succath Shelomo Synagogue Noel Issac Mapgaonkar said his parents and uncle, aunty are currently staying in Israel, "I am speaking with them daily on the phone and they are saying the situation is very bad there, they are not allowed to step outside the home, they have been told to store the foods ration ... I am praying here for the soldiers of Israel to give them strength to fight against Hamas."

The Bene Israel or "Native Jew" is a community of Jews in India. Another member who is a trustee of Succath Shelomo Synagogue Yosef Nowgaonkar said that since Saturday, "we are really worried about our family members staying in Israel. Some of them are citizens of Israel and have been called at the war being in the reserve army ..we are very concerned about them and praying for them."

Sharing a picture of the barbaric killings carried out by the terrorist group Hamas, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, in a post on social media platform X, said that Hamas is worse than ISIS. "Hamas is worse than ISIS," the Israeli PM wrote as he shared the post. Sharing the same post on X, the IDF said, "Only a genocidal terrorist organization is capable of such horrors."

The Israel Defence Force (IDF) spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus on Wednesday said that 1200 Israelis were killed and more than 2,700 wounded and emphasised that the Israeli soldiers are ready to execute mission in Gaza. "Four days after Hamas breached into Israel, attacked Israeli communities, murdered and massacred Israeli citizens and took dozens of Israeli hostages into Gaza. The death toll is staggering, a 1200 dead Israelis. The overwhelming majority of them civilians and more than 2700 wounded and sadly something tells me that these are not final numbers," he said.

The IDF spokesperson said that about 300000 soldiers had been deployed at the Gaza border and claimed that they would ensure that the Hamas will not have any military capabilities at the end of the war. In a live video posted on X, Lieutenant Colonel Conricus added, "We have sent our inventory, armoured soldiers, our artillery cores and many other soldiers from the reserves. 300000 in numbers in different brigades and divisions and they are now close to the Gaza strip getting ready to execute the mission that the Israeli government and that is to make sure that Hamas at the end of the war won't have any military capabilities by which they can threaten or kill Israeli citizens."

As part of the ongoing counter-offensive against Hamas, dozens of Israeli Air Force fighters struck over 200 targets in the Al-Furqan neighbourhood. In a post shared on X, IDF stated, "Dozens of Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck over 200 targets in the Al-Furqan neighbourhood--a terrorist hotspot from which Hamas devises and executes their attacks. This is the 3rd counterstrike in the area during the last 24 hours, in which 450 targets were struck."