Operation Ajay: Two special flights to fly out Indian nationals on Saturday from Israel

Jerusalem: After flying out more than 400 Indian nationals from Israel on two consecutive days, the Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv has announced two special flights on Saturday to further facilitate more Indians wanting to leave the country amidst the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The special flights are part of 'Operation Ajay' launched on October 12 to facilitate the return of those Indian nationals who wish to return home following the brazen attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas militants from Gaza on October 7, triggering fresh tension in the region.

The first flight is expected to leave at 5:00 pm local time and can carry 230 passengers. The second flight is scheduled at 11:00 pm local time and can carry 330 passengers.

“The Embassy has been working round the clock to facilitate all our citizens in Israel who wish to leave. We have reached out to students, caregivers, and business people. Some of them are actually working with us as volunteers. We urge everyone to remain calm,” Ambassador Sanjeev Singla told PTI.

“The Embassy has emailed the next lot of registered Indian citizens for two special flights today. Messages to other registered people will follow for subsequent flights,” the Indian Embassy in Israel posted the announcement on X.

The passengers are chosen on a “first come first serve” basis after a drive launched by the Indian embassy for all Indians to register at the mission's database. The government is bearing the cost of their return.

This would be the third and fourth batch of Indians to be flown out from the Ben Gurion airport amid Israel's raging conflict with the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The second batch of 235 Indian nationals, including two infants, was safely flown back late on Friday and reached Delhi on Saturday morning. The first charter flight from Israel had left late Thursday evening carrying 211 adults and an infant and reached the Indian capital on Friday morning.

There are about 18,000 Indian nationals living and working in Israel including caregivers, students, several IT professionals, and diamond traders.

The voluntary departure of Indian nationals was necessitated after armed Hamas militants based in the Gaza Strip launched an unprecedented attack on Israel by land, air, and sea on October 7.

Since then, the attack has killed more than 1,300 people in Israel while the Israeli counter-airstrikes have killed at least 1,900 people in Gaza. Israel has claimed roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel.