A post claiming that 17 Indians have been kidnapped by Hamas in Israel and that out of 17 members, 10 are killed is being shared widely on social media. It further criticizes the I.N.D.I alliance for not addressing this issue. Let’s verify the claim made in the post
Claim: 17 Indians have been kidnapped by Hamas in Israel and 10 among them are killed
Fact: The names in the list are of 17 Nepali students who went to Israel as a part of the ‘Learn and Earn’ scheme. Among them, 10 were killed in the attack whereas one went missing and the rest were injured. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
On a relevant keyword search about the claim, we did not find any credible reports stating that Indian citizens were kidnapped or killed in the Hamas attacks. Moreover, in such a case, the Ministry of External Affairs would have confirmed the news to the media.
Further research, led us to posts on X (here and here) with a list of the same names and stating them as Nepali citizens. Subsequently, we confirmed that these are the names of 17 Nepali citizens who went to Israel as a part of the ‘Learn and Earn’ scheme. The names mentioned in the claim are the same as those mentioned by the Nepali ambassador to Israel as per the news reports (here, here, and here). Among 17 students, 10 were killed in the attack whereas the rest were injured and one went missing.
As far as the latest information regarding Indian citizens in Israel is concerned, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs during the recent media briefing stated that they have not received any information regarding Indian causalities in the Hamas attacks so far. We also found news reports confirming the same (here and here).
To sum up, a list with names of Nepali casualties and those injured in Hamas attacks is shared as that of Indian Citizens.
