Kathmandu, Oct. 16: Israel handed over the mortal remains of the five Nepalis, who died in the attack by Palestine rebel group HAMAS on last Saturday, October 7, to Nepal.

The Nepali Embassy in Tel Aviv of Israel received the dead bodies on Sunday, as it informed. It received the mortal remains of Narayan Prasad Neupane, Lokendra Singh Dhami, Ganesh Kumar Nepali, Dipesh Raj Bist and Ashish Chaudhary. Repatriation of the mortal remains was delayed as postmortem and other procedures needed to be fulfilled and meanwhile Israeli hospitals were overwhelmed with a large number of dead bodies.

“Mortal remains of the remaining five are in the process of being handed over. We are making the necessary coordination to send the remains to Nepal as soon as possible,” informed the embassy, “Meanwhile, we have mobilised all available mechanisms to find Bipin Joshi who has been missing since the attack.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister NP Saud has requested international organisations and diplomatic missions to find out the status of a Nepali student Bipin Joshi, who is missing in the ongoing war in Israel.

Talking to representatives of international news organisations at his residence at Bhainsepati in Lalitpur on Sunday, Foreign Minister Saud sought the support of international organisations and diplomatic missions to find out the situation of missing student Joshi who has been missing since the Palestine rebel group Hamas bombed Alumim Kibbutz in Israel which is in the area bordering with the Gaza Strip.

Ten Nepali students who had reached Israel under the 'learn and earn' prgramme (a government-to-government initiative of Nepal and Israel) were killed in the attack while Joshi has been missing since then.

Four students were badly injured, and of them, two are still ongoing treatment in hospital in Israel. During the conversation with the international media, Foreign Minister Saud said that according to eyewitness Nepali students, Bipin might be in possession of Hamas.

"It seems that the attackers attacked repeatedly in a short period of time when the Nepali students including Bipin were hiding in a bunker. It seems that they fired first and then threw grenades," he said. "According to eyewitness students, when they threw two grenades, one of them did not explode, and Bipin threw out one grenade."

He also stated that some eyewitnesses have said that Bipin was kidnapped along with some Thai students. "Since then, he has been in an unknown state, his condition has not been discovered yet," said Foreign Minister Saud.

The Government of Nepal has requested the Israeli government to find out his condition. The Israeli government has also expressed its commitment to find out about his status.

"I would like to request through you (international media) international organisations and various diplomatic missions to find out his status," he said.

Earlier, in a press conference last week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had said that the government was using all possible channels, including local police and hospitals in Israel, to know the whereabouts of Bipin.

Published on: 16 October 2023 | The Rising Nepal