Authorities in Israel handed over the bodies of five of the 10 Nepali students who were killed in the Hamas attack when they were working at Kibbutz Alumim of Sedot Negev Agriculture Centre in southern Israel on October 7.

The embassy said it had received the mortal remains of Narayan Prasad Neupane, Lokendra Singh Dhami, Ganesh Kumar Nepali, Dipesh Raj Bist and Ashish Chaudhary.

"The embassy is in the process of receiving the remaining bodies of those who lost their lives in the attack," the Embassy of Nepal in Tel Aviv said in a statement on Sunday. "Necessary coordination is underway to send the bodies to Nepal without delay."

The embassy also said it had stepped up effort to search Bipin Joshi, who has been missing from the incident site since the day they came under the attack by Palestinian militants.

Of the four injured in the assault, two are undergoing treatment at a local hospital while the other two have been discharged from the hospital. One of the students discharged from the hospital is receiving care at the embassy while the other has arrived in Nepal.

While the attack spread terror across the country, 17 Nepali students in Kibbutz Alumim, an area near the Gaza Strip, came under direct attack by the militants. According to the embassy, a total of 265 Nepali students were studying in Israel under the ‘Learn and Earn’ programme of the Israeli government at the time.

This article was first published in The Kathmandu Post, Nepal