 "Operation Ajay: Third flight carrying 197 Indians fly out from Israel")
The third batch of 197 Indian nationals wanting to leave Israel amidst the Israel-Hamas conflict left for home on a special flight on Saturday.
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.
"#OperationAjay moves forward. 197 more passengers are coming back to India," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar posted on X.
The Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv has announced that two special flights will operate from Ben Gurion airport on Saturday.
The first flight left around 5:40 pm local time. The second flight is scheduled at 11:00 pm local time and can carry 330 passengers.
The third batch of 197 Indian nationals left for home around 5.40 pm local time (8.10 pm IST).
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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.
The first charter flight from Israel carried 212 people on Thursday. The second batch of 235 Indian nationals were flown back late on Friday. So far, a total of 644 Indian nationals have been flown out of Israel.
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.