Two flights bring back 471 more Indians from Israel

Two flights from Tel Aviv carrying a total of 471 Indians landed in the national capital on Sunday morning. One flight was operated by Air India and another by SpiceJet.

A total of four flights have been operated under Operation Ajay, which was launched by the government to facilitate the return of Indians who wish to come back from Israel, where an intense conflict is going on with militant group Hamas.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Sunday said the third flight with 197 passengers landed at the Delhi airport in the morning.

The fourth flight with 274 passengers onboard touches down in the national capital, he said in posts on social media platform X and also shared pictures of passengers.

Two chartered flights from Tel Aviv, operated by Air India, came with a total of more than 435 passengers on Friday and Saturday. ‘Operation Ajay’ was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring back around 18,000 Indians in Israel. Registration of Indians began on Thursday.

It has been more than a week after the attack that saw more than 1,300 Israelis killed, most of them civilians, as waves of Hamas terrorists breached the border. Over 1,000 Palestinians were also killed as a result of retaliatory strikes from Israel.

The Indian embassy in Israel is providing assistance to Indian companies and has set up a helpline for Indian citizens in need of assistance.

The MEA had set up a 24-hour control room in view of the escalating conflict. The control room will help monitor the situation and provide information and assistance.