Eight Tamilians arrive from war-hit Israel at Madurai Airport

Madurai (Tamil Nadu) [India]: The District Collector of Madurai on behalf of the Tamil Nadu Government welcomed the eight persons who arrived at Madurai Airport from Israel on Sunday.

Earlier on Friday, the Tamil Nadu government informed that 49 Tamils stranded in Israel have returned home safely.

In this regard, a press release issued by the Government of Tamil Nadu said, “While the war between Israel and Palestine has intensified, the information of 128 Tamils who were stranded there was known through the helpline numbers announced by the Government of Tamil Nadu. Among them, 21 Tamils arrived in New Delhi on Saturday as the first phase. From there, they were taken to their homes on behalf of the Tamil Nadu government.”

In the second phase, 28 Tamils from Madurai, Dindigul, Karur, Tenkasi, Dharmapuri, Tirupur, Tiruvannamalai, Trichy, Chennai, Villupuram, Tiruppathur, Salem, Coimbatore etc. arrived in New Delhi on a special flight from Israel on Saturday.

Meanwhile, under ‘Operation Ajay’, the fourth flight with 274 Indians onboard departed from Israel for India in the early hours of Sunday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.

Taking to social media platform X, Jaishankar said that it was the second flight in a day to depart from Israel for India.”#OperationAjay 2nd flight of the day departs from Tel Aviv carrying 274 passengers,” Jaishankar posted on X.

‘Operation Ajay’ was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring back around 18,000 Indians in Israel. Registration of Indians began on Thursday.

It has been more than a week after the attack that saw more than 1,300 Israelis killed, most of them civilians, as waves of Hamas terrorists breached the border.

Over 1,000 Palestinians were also killed as a result of retaliatory strikes from Israel. The Indian embassy in Israel is providing assistance to Indian companies and has set up a helpline for Indian citizens in need of assistance.

The MEA had set up a 24-hour control room in view of the escalating conflict. The control room will help monitor the situation and provide information and assistance.