Operation Ajay was launched on October 12 to facilitate the return Indian nationals who wish to return home following the brazen attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas militants from Gaza on October 7.

Israel-Hamas War Updates: A New Delhi-bound special flight carrying 143 persons, including two Nepalese citizens and four infants, departed war-hit Israel on Sunday as part of  ‘Operation Ajay’ which was launched by the Indian government to fly out its citizens who wished to leave the Jewish nation amid the raging war with Gaza-based Hamas militants.

It was the sixth flight as 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.

The flight is carrying 143 persons, including two Nepalese citizens and four infants, informed sources told news agency PTI.

“OperationAjay continues. The sixth flight has taken off from Tel Aviv to Delhi. Embassy wishes everyone on board a safe journey,” the Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv said in a post on X.

Eighteen Nepalese nationals were earlier accommodated on the special flight last Tuesday.

Operation Ajay

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.

So far, five chartered flights from Tel Aviv arrived in Delhi with nearly 1,200 passengers, including children.

Pictures posted by the Indian embassy showed people carrying the Indian tricolour as they expressed happiness over evacuation from Israel during its ongoing war with Hamas.

“#OperationAjay update Flight #6 departs from Tel Aviv,” the External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar posted on X.

The fifth flight carrying 286 Indian nationals including 18 citizens of Nepal arrived in New Delhi late on Tuesday night. Upon arrival, they were received by the Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, L Murugan.

“Wherever Indians are stranded, our priority is to bring them back. We have successfully conducted Operation Ganga and Operation Kaveri now under Operation Ajay we are bringing people back from Israel. This is the fifth flight, and we have already brought 1180 people back home. We are the first country to start the evacuation, and we are also bringing people belonging to our neighbour (Nepal) countries…,” the Minister said.

Expressing gratitude to PM Modi’s government, Vishal, an Indian national who returned from Israel told news agency ANI, “I am coming from Haifa, Israel. We had to follow the safety protocols given by the university. The Indian government has helped us a lot, we are thankful to the embassy…”

Whereas, another Indian national, Ramesh said, “We have just returned from Israel. The facilities provided by the Indian Embassy were very good. We got a lot of help from the Indian Embassy in Israel…”

The fourth flight from Israel under ‘Operation Ajay’ carrying 274 Indian passengers landed in the national capital on Sunday. Union Minister of State General (Retd) VK Singh received the Indian passengers at the airport.  VK Singh informed that more flights will be carried out to evacuate the Indian citizens amid the situation in Israel.

The Indian nationals applauded the operation and said that there was support from the Indian embassy and the evacuation process was nice and quick. ‘Operation Ajay’ was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring back around 18,000 Indians in Israel. Registration of Indians began on Thursday.

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

Israel is currently embroiled bloody conflict with Hamas militants who control the Gaza strip.
Since the start of hostilities, nearly 4,400 Palestinians have been killed in the counter-offensive launched by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in retaliation to the October 7 attacks.

According to official Israeli sources, at least 1,400 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel.

(With inputs from agencies)