Israelis celebrate at Tel Aviv airport as they welcome citizens, soldiers

Tel Aviv [Israel]: Many Israeli youths celebrated by singing and dancing as several Israeli citizens and soldiers returned to the Tel Aviv airport.

The youth could be seen waving Israeli flags and chanting slogans in praise of Israeli soldiers fighting Hamas.

"We are here to celebrate the soldiers who came here to fight for Israel," a girl told ANI.
This comes as several Israeli people have returned to the country to serve the country in the fight against Hamas.

As part of its counter-offensive against Hamas, Israel mobilised 3,00,000 troops in just 48 hours. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari informed about the mobilisation and said the IDF "has never mobilized so many reservists so quickly -- 300,000 reservists in 48 hours."

This is the largest mobilisation since the 1973 Yom Kippur War when Israel called up 400,000 reservists, Times of Israel reported.

Earlier in the day, the first batch of Indian passengers is set to board a flight from Tel Aviv to India under Operation Ajay.

In Tel Aviv, the passengers were seen boarding a special chartered flight started by India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to bring back passengers from Israel.

On the occasion, Indian Ambassador to Israel, Sanjeev Singla said that the Indian Embassy in Israel is working to ensure the well-being of Indian nationals in war-torn Israel and informed that under "Operation Ajay" the embassy will help Indians who want to return back to India.

Hamas launched a horrific attack on Israel on October 7, after which they breached Israeli borders, killed and raped people.

Meanwhile, the death toll in Israel since the Hamas attack on October 7 has jumped to 1,300 and some 3300 have been injured, including 28 in critical condition and 350 in serious condition, The Times of Israel reported citing Hebrew media reports.

The fate of an estimated 150 people abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip during the attack by Hamas is still unclear, the report said.

Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the military has so far notified families of 97 hostages who were being held by terrorists in the Gaza Strip, The Times of Israel reported.