Operation Ajay: Fourth Flight Carrying 274 Indian Nationals From Israel Arrives In Delhi

A special flight carrying 274 Indian nationals arrived in New Delhi amid the Israel-Hamas conflict. This is the fourth such flight since the launch of 'Operation Ajay.

Operation Ajay: The fourth special flight under 'Operation Ajay' with 274 Indian nationals from Israel has arrived in New Delhi. This was the second flight to leave Israel on Saturday after a third such plane with 197 evacuees left the Jewish country. Spokesperson for Ministery of External Affairs (MEA) Arindam Bagchi gave the information on X in a post where he shared the photos of the returnees who were welcomed by Union Minister Gen(R) VK Singh.

These flights are part of the operation launched on October 12 to facilitate the return of Indian nationals who wish to return home following the devastating attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas militants from Gaza on October 7.

According to PTI, the Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv earlier announced that two special flights will operate from Ben Gurion airport on Saturday.

The third batch of 197 Indian nationals left for home around 5.40 pm local time (8.10 pm IST). It landed in Delhi late at night and the returnees were welcomed by Union Minister Kaushal Kishore.

"#OperationAjay moves forward. 197 more passengers are coming back to India," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar posted on X, formerly Twitter.

The first flight carrying 212 passengers landed in Delhi on Friday and the second plane with 235 Indian nationals onboard reached the national capital on Saturday. So far, a total of 918 Indian nationals have been flown out of Israel.

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

The Embassy of India in Israel posted on X, "As part of #OperationAjay, Indian nationals still in Israel and wishing to travel back to India are urgently requested to complete the attached travel form." It further said that travel slots will be allocated on a 'first come, first served' basis in the 'Operation Ajay' and in the event of a no-show or refusal to travel after confirmation and slotting, "your name will be moved to the back of the queue."

"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 announced on X earlier in the day.

Since Hamas' October 7 surprise attack on Israel, more than 3,000 people have died while millions have fled the Gaza Strip. Israeli counter-airstrikes have killed at least 1,900 people in Gaza.