Posted by The Indian embassy in Israel said it has emailed the next lot of registered Indian citizens for the special flight on Friday.“Messages to other registered people will follow for subsequent flights,” said the Indian embassy in Israel in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
India launched on Wednesday to facilitate the return of Indians who wish to come back home as a series of attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas terrorist since Saturday (October 7) triggered fresh tension in the region.
Launching Operation Ajay, India’s External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar said: “Fully committed to the safety and well-being of our nationals abroad.”The first batch of 212 Indians, including students and an infant, departed from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on Thursday evening and arrived in New Delhi in the early hours of Friday.
There was a festive mood among the returnees who raised chants of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’ on the flight.Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar welcomed the passengers at the Delhi airport as they streamed into the lounge area from the tarmac side. He greeted them with folded hands and also shook hands with many of them saying, “Welcome home”.
On Thursday, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi, said around 18,000 Indians are currently residing in Israel, while about a dozen people are in the West Bank and three to four are in Gaza.