Fourth flight carrying 274 Indians arrives in Delhi as part of Operation Ajay from Israel

A flight carrying 274 Indian citizens touched down at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on Sunday as part of ‘Operation Ajay,’ a mission to rescue Indians from a war-torn Israel. Since the start of the special operation, this is the fourth flight. At 11.45 p.m. local time, it departed from Israel’s Ben Gurion airport.

 

This was the fourth flight to leave Israel since the beginning of ‘Operation Ajay,’ and the second flight in a single day. Prior to this, a flight carrying the third batch of 197 Indian nationals departed at approximately 5:40 p.m. local time.

 

S Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs, tweeted about the fourth flight leaving Israel. ‘2nd flight of the day departs from Tel Aviv carrying 274 passengers,’ the message stated.

 

The special flights are a part of the operation that was started on October 12 to help Indian citizens who want to return home.

 

‘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,’ the Indian Embassy in Israel wrote on X.

 

In ‘Operation Ajay,’ travel slots will be assigned on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. The Indian embassy in Israel previously stated, ‘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 news agency PTI.

 

212 individuals were aboard the first charter flight from Israel on Thursday. On Friday night, a flight carrying 235 Indian nationals returned from the second batch. 918 Indian nationals had been flown out of Israel as of this writing.

 

Around 18,000 Indian nationals, including carers, students, several IT professionals, and diamond traders, reside and work in Israel.

 

Indian citizens were forced to leave Israel voluntarily due to the continuous fighting between Israeli security forces and militants from Hamas.

 

More than 1,300 Israelis were killed in the surprise attack by Hamas terrorists on October 7, while at least 1,900 Gazans were also killed in Israeli counter-airstrikes.