Operation Ajay: 2nd batch of 235 Indians brought back from war-torn Israel

(Update 8:45 am): The second batch of 235 Indians, including two infants have been successfully brought back to India under ‘Operation Ajay’ that aims to evacuate Indian nationalities amid the ongoing India-Israel conflict. Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs and Education, received the Indian contingent after their plane landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the national capital today.

The spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi has shared a post on X announcing the safe evacuation of the 2nd batch of Indians in ‘Operation Ajay’. He wrote “#OperationAjay continues to bring citizens home. 2nd flight carrying 235 citizens arrives in New Delhi. MoS @RanjanRajkuma11 received the citizens at the airport.”

Operation Ajay: 2nd batch of 235 Indians flown out of Israel 

Under the mission ‘Operation Ajay’, the Indian government has successfully evacuated the second batch of Indians stranded in Israel. The batch had 235 people of Indian nationalities including two infants who were safely evacuated on Friday amid the escalating fight between Hamas and Israel.

India launched ‘Operation Ajay’ mission to evacuate the Indian nationalities trapped in the ongoing war from Israel on Thursday. The first flight of this mission successfully brought back 212 Indians amid Israel’s s raging conflict with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The second batch of 235 Indians were safely flown out of Israel on Friday, as per media reports. The flight took off at 11:02 p.m. local time.

“The Embassy has emailed the next lot of registered Indian citizens for the special flight today. Messages to other registered people will follow for subsequent flights,” the Indian Embassy posted the announcement on X.

Operation Ajay Day 1

The first flight bound for India from Israel under ‘Operation Ajay’ left from the Ben Gurion airport late Thursday evening. There were 211 Indians onboard including 1 infant who were living in the war-battered region and reached the Indian capital on Friday morning.

The passengers were selected on a “first come first serve” basis an evacuation drive was launched by the Indian embassy for all Indians to register at the mission’s database. The drive was named ‘Operation Ajay’ with the Indian government bearing all the cost of their return

Indians in Israel

About1800 Indian people are living and working in Israel including caregivers, students, several IT professionals, and diamond traders.

The evacuation of Indian nationals was necessitated after armed Hamas militants based in the Gaza Strip blasted through the Israeli security fence and streamed into Israel by land, air and sea on Saturday, in what is now described as an unprecedented attack.

Since then, the attack has killed more than 1,300 people in Israel while the Israeli counter-airstrikes have killed more than 1,530 people in Gaza. Israel has claimed roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel.

(With agency inputs)