The first charter flight to facilitate the return of Indian citizens stranded in Israel took off from Ben Gurion Airport on Thursday evening. About 230 Indians boarded the flight on a first-come, first-served basis.
This flight was intended to facilitate the return of those unable to do so, as Air India had immediately suspended its flight on the day the fighting started on October 7, and commercial operations have been suspended until now.
The government will cover the flight costs of those who have returned. There was a long queue of Indians, including students, at the airport to board the special flight under ‘Operation Ajay’ from Tel Aviv.
“We are grateful to India… Most of the students were a bit panicked. Suddenly we saw a notification and the links for every Indian citizen through the Embassy of India, which boosted our morale. We felt that the Embassy of India was connected with us. That was a kind of relief for us. And then we got all the arrangements,” Shubham Kumar, a student in Israel, told news agency PTI.
Israel has vowed an unprecedented offensive against the Hamas group in the Gaza Strip after its fighters broke through the border fence on October 7 and stormed into the south of the country by air, land and sea.
On the sixth day, the Israeli military said more than 1,300 people, including 222 soldiers, were killed in Israel, a staggering toll not seen since the weeks-long war with Egypt and Syria in 1973.
In the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, authorities say at least 1,417 people have been killed there, including women and children.
The Indian embassy had emailed the first batch of registered Indian citizens for the special flight, the mission was set to X. “Messages to other registered people will follow for subsequent flights,” the report said.