Minister for Foreign Affairs NP Saud on Sunday said Nepali casualties are feared in an attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Israel.

Informing Sunday’s meeting of the House of Representatives about recent developments in Israel, the minister said out of 17 Nepali students in Kibbutz Alumim, the area near the Gaza Strip, three are receiving treatment in local hospitals and two are safe.

He said some of the remaining 12 students are currently out of contact and there might be some casualties, adding that the entire mechanism has been mobilised to ascertain the situation.

Minister Saud said currently 4,500 Nepalis are working in Israel as caregivers. A total of 265 Nepali students who are currently studying in Israel went under the ‘Learn and Earn’ programme of the Israeli government, he said.

Foreign Minister Saud said a mechanism led by the foreign minister that has incorporated all concerned agencies has been formed. This mechanism will continuously monitor the incident, evaluate the overall situation and take necessary decisions for the rescue of Nepalis, he said.

He said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has directed the Nepali Embassy to rescue Nepalis, inform them of the situation and urge them to follow the safety instructions and rules issued by the Israeli government.

At least nine Nepalis were reported injured, two of them critically, as Hamas launched an attack inside Israeli territory. The ministry issuing a statement on Saturday said that a farm where 14 Nepalis were working had come under attack in Kibbutz Alumim in southern Israel near the Gaza Strip.

Hamas militants fired thousands of rockets and sent dozens of fighters into Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip in an unprecedented surprise early morning attack, the Associated Press reported.