During this month, Air India operated a few chartered flights to Tel Aviv from the national capital under the Centre’s Operation Ajay to bring back Indians from the Jewish nation amid the raging Israel-Hamas war.

Israel-Hamas War Updates: National carrier Air India on Wednesday announced it has extended the suspension of its flight operations to Israel’s Tel Aviv till November 2 amid the ongoing war between Gaza-based Hamas militants and Israel which was triggered after the former launched a surprise onslaught on the Jewish nation earlier this month.

In an official statement, Air India said it has suspended all its scheduled flights to Tel Aviv till November 2. Earlier, the airline had suspended its operations to and from Tel Aviv on October when the conflict between Israel and Hamas started.

Normally, the full-service carrier operates five weekly flights to Tel Aviv from the national capital. The service is on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

During this month, the airline operated a few chartered flights to Tel Aviv from the national capital under the government’s Operation Ajay to bring back Indians who wished to come back from Israel against the backdrop of the escalating conflict.

Declare Hamas as terror organisation: Israel urges India

Meanwhile, earlier today, Israeli ambassador Naor Gilon urged India to proscribe Hamas as a terrorist organisation.

Interacting with journalists in the national capital, the Israeli envoy thanked India for its “100 per cent” support to Israel in its anti-terror operations against Hamas and stated that time has come for New Delhi to declared the militant group as a a terror outfit.

“It is time for India to declare Hamas as terrorist organisation in India,” Gilon said, adding many countries have already done that.

Gilon said Israel conveyed to relevant Indian authorities to declare Hamas as a terrorist organisation following its surprise assault on the Jewish nation on October 7. The ambassador hinted that the matter had been taken up earlier as well.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among first world leaders to condemn the terror attack… India is a very important moral voice in the world and the important countries for us are with us,” Gilon said.

“India is solidly supporting us in our counter-terror operations,” he said.

Israel-Hamas war

Israel is currently embroiled bloody conflict with Hamas militants who control the Gaza strip.
Since the start of hostilities, more than 5,700 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.

On Tuesday, rapidly expanding Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip killed more than 700 Palestinians as medical facilities across the territory were forced to close because of bombing damage and a lack of power.

Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said the attacks killed at least 704 people over the past day, including 305 children and 173 women.

Nearly 2,300 minors have been killed in the Israeli offensive, the ministry said, without giving a detailed breakdown. The figure includes the disputed toll from an explosion at a hospital last week.

(With inputs from agencies)