Israel will give lifetime support to the families of two Chinese workers killed in a suicide bomb attack in Jerusalem.
The two, Lin Chunmei, 32, and Cai Xianyang, 34, died when a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated a device near a food market in Jerusalem on April 12. Two other Chinese were critically injured. They were the first Chinese casualties of the Palestinian uprising of the past 19 months.
A memorial service for the two was held at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport on Tuesday in the presence of an Israeli government minister, a vice-minister of labour and social affairs and the Chinese ambassador.
The coffins were flown to London and on to Hong Kong, where they were yesterday placed on a China Eastern flight toFuzhou, capital of Fujian province. There they were met at the airport by a minister from the Israeli embassy in Beijing, Ilan Mor, who will attend separate funerals today for the two victims in their home county of Putian, the embassy said.
Mr Mor will give the family members the first instalment of compensation. Israel has a fund that compensates its citizens, and foreigners with legal status, if they are killed or injured by acts of terrorism.
The two families will be given compensation at the same level as Israeli citizens, a spokesman for the Embassy said yesterday.