PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Manet confirmed that the body of a Cambodian student who was killed in Israel on October 7 arrived in Phnom Penh on October 24 for the family to lay him to rest in a traditional ceremony.

"The body was brought to Phnom Penh and celebrated in accordance with national traditions yesterday," he said at a meeting with workers in Kampong Cham on the morning of October 25.

He stressed that since the violence between Palestine and Israel escalated earlier this month, the Royal Government of Cambodia has been monitoring the safety of more than 400 Cambodian students and cooperating with the Israeli authorities. He said that he monitors the situation of Cambodians citizens in Israel four times a day and that he will not give up until the chaos has ended.

"We are constantly on the lookout to ensure your safety. We have no troops on the ground. We rely on local authorities," he said.

He also said that the Israeli government has set up a safe zone 300 km away from the Israel-Gaza border.

Chan Udom was a third-year student at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Royal University of Agriculture. His hometown is in Koh Thom District, Kandal Province. He had been studying in Israel for less than a month when he was killed during the Hamas attack.

Hamas launched an unannounced attack on Saturday, October 7, 2023, firing thousands of rockets and deploying troops into Israeli territory, indiscriminately killing civilians. Israel’s response has killed nearly 6,000 Palestinian civilians so far, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Over half of Gaza’s population is children.