The first charter flight carrying the first batch of Indian citizens stranded in Israel amid the ongoing war with terrorist group Hamas arrived in New Delhi on Friday morning under Operation Ajay. Those who were being repatriated from Israel thanked Indian government for bringing them back.

Speaking to ANI one of the passengers who landed at the Indira Gandhi International today said, “This is the first time that we are facing such a situation over there. We are very thankful to the Indian government, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing us back. We are hoping for peace as soon as possible so that we can go back to work as earliest as possible…”

Another Indian woman, an agricultural researcher who along with her husband was doing her post doctorate studies in Israel who was on the flight which took off from Ben Gurion airport in Israel on October 12.

The woman was carrying in her arms her 5-month-old son, who was born in Israel, when she landed in the national capital and there was visible relief on her face. “We live in southern part like the city with Russia. It’s safe. But we decided because of him (her son) we decided to come back to India. She described the day the Hamas attack took place and the ensuing chaos that followed. She said that there was a siren that they heard early October 7 morning when Hamas terrorists broke through the Gaza border and attacked Israel.