DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT

A Bangladeshi expatriate worker was killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut on Wednesday, the Bangladesh Embassy in the Lebanese capital said yesterday.

The deceased, Dipali Begum, 34, was the daughter of Sheikh Mofazzal and Rozina Khatun, of Purbo Shalepur village in Faridpur’s Charbhadrasan upazila. She had been working as a housekeeper in Lebanon.

In a statement, the embassy said Dipali was sustained injuries in an Israeli missile strike that hit her employer’s house, where she was staying, in Beirut’s Hamra area. She later died at a hospital, according to her family.

According to preliminary information, several members of her employer’s family were also killed in the attack.

Local police sources said the body has been kept in the morgue of Rafik Hariri University Hospital.

The embassy expressed sorrow over the death of the remittance earner and conveyed deep sympathy to her bereaved family.

Dipali had gone to Lebanon two years ago in search of a better livelihood, her younger sister Laiju Begum told The Daily Star. “We last spoke to her on the morning of April 8,” she said. About a month ago, Dipali moved from Chur to Beirut after the conflict escalated. “She told us the situation in Chur had worsened because of the fighting, so she relocated to Beirut with her employer’s family.”

Charbhadrasan Upazila Nirbahi Officer Shuraiya Mamtaz said steps have been taken to bring back the body. “We will provide all necessary support to the victim’s family… The process has already been initiated through diplomatic channels.”

With Dipali’s death, seven Bangladeshis have been killed so far in the US-Israel war on Iran.