NAEEM ANSARI-AFP
Indians queuing in long lines for jobs in Israel as the war with Hamas grinds on say the risks to their safety are preferable to hunger at home.
Recruiters are aiming to fill a labour shortage in Israel exacerbated by nearly four months of fighting against Palestinian militants in Gaza.
While India is the world's fifth-largest economy and one of the fastest growing, it has struggled to produce enough full-time and well-paying jobs for millions of people.
For the hundreds of Indians in line, almost all men, the chance of a skilled construction job in Israel and wages up to 18 times higher outweighs their fears.
"If it is written in our fate to die, we'll die there at least our kids will get something," said motorbike mechanic Jabbar Singh, among the packed crowd at a training centre and recruitment site in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state. "It's better than hunger here."
The Indian embassy in Tel Aviv says there are about 18,000 Indian citizens in Israel, "primarily caregivers" looking after the elderly, while others are employed as diamond traders and IT professionals. Some are students.
India's foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters last week there were long-existing employment agreements between the countries.
"We already have a large number of people, especially in the caregiving sector in Israel," Jaiswal said, adding that the agreement helped to ensure "regulated migration".
As the men queued in Lucknow, about 4,500 kilometres (2,800 miles) away, Israel stepped up its assault in the Gazan city of Khan Yunis, with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas saying dozens were killed in heavy bombardments and urban combat.
The war erupted on October 7 when Hamas and other militants from Gaza launched an unprecedented attack on Israel that resulted in about 1,140 deaths, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
