The first charter flight under Operation Ajay, carrying about 212 Indian citizens who were stranded in Israel amid the ongoing war, landed at Delhi airport on Friday morning. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekar was present at the airport to receive the Indian nationals who arrived from Israel.
"Our government will never leave any Indian behind. Our government, our Prime Minister is determined to protect them, bring them back home safely," Chandrasekhar told news agency ANI.
"We are grateful to EAM Dr S Jaishankar, the team at the External Affairs Ministry, the flight crew of this Air India flight for making this possible, for bringing our children back home safely and soundly and back home to their loved ones...," he added.
The flight, to facilitate the return of Indian citizens wishing to return from Israel, left Thursday evening from the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. It carried 211 adults and an infant.
"Operation Ajay gets underway. 212 citizens onboard the flight are enroute New Delhi," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in a post on X.
Operation Ajay has been launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government to bring back around 18,000 Indians in Israel as a series of brazen attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas militants over the weekend triggered fresh tensions in the region.
Jaishankar announced the launch of the operation in a post on X on Wednesday night. "Launching #OperationAjay to facilitate the return from Israel of our citizens who wish to return," he said.
"Special charter flights and other arrangements being put in place. Fully committed to the safety and well-being of our nationals abroad," he added.
Israel has vowed an unprecedented offensive against the Islamic militant group Hamas ruling Gaza after its fighters broke through the border fence and stormed into the country's south through air, land and sea on October 7.
On the sixth day, the Israeli military said more than 1,300 people, including 222 soldiers, were killed in Israel, a staggering toll unseen since the 1973 war with Egypt and Syria that lasted weeks. In the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, at least 1,417 people, including women and children, have been killed, according to authorities there, reported PTI.
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