Indians queuing in long lines for jobs in Israel as the conflict with Hamas grinds on say the risks to their safety are preferable to hunger at home, AFP reports.

Recruiters are aiming to fill a labour shortage in Israel exacerbated by nearly four months of fighting against Palestinian fighters in Gaza.

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.” India’s urban unemployment rate — the percentage of people wanting work who cannot find a job — dipped to 5.1pc in July 2022-June 2023, from 6.6pc between the same months a year earlier.