Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi on Thursday moved the ministry of external affairs to ensure the safe return of a PhD scholar from Assam “stuck” in Israel because of the ongoing hostilities with Hamas-run Gaza.

In a letter to foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, the two-time MP informed about Naziha Tarannam who is “stuck in Negev in Israel due to Israel-Palestine conflict”.

Naziha is a fourth-year PhD scholar of chemistry at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, one of Israel’s leading research universities with around 20,000 students and 4,000 faculty members.

She hails from Dergaon in Upper Assam’s Golaghat district which falls under Kaliabor Lok Sabha constituency represented by Gaurav.

“I shall be grateful if you could kindly instruct the concern(ed) authority to look into the matter and take appropriate action to bring her back to Assam, India, safely,” Gaurav wrote.

He told The Telegraph that he had moved the external affairs ministry after coming across the information about Naziha doing the rounds of social media. “What I did was based on social media posts and am hopeful of a positive response from the MEA,” Gaurav said.

Naziha’s parents told a news portal that they were concerned about the safety of their daughter and have not been able to sleep or eat properly. They have moved both the central and state governments to ensure the safety of all Indian students stuck in the conflict zone.

The fighting between Israel and Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, which began on May 10 has left a trail of destruction.

At least 227 people have been killed in air raids in Hamas-governed Gaza, besides widespread destruction of infrastructure. Around 12 people have been killed in Israel in rocket attacks carried out by Hamas from Gaza. The fighting has also fuelled unrest between Arabs and Jews inside Israel.