"Prime Minister Modi Said...": Minister On Indians Coming Back From Israel

All Indians wishing to leave Israel - amid the war with the Hamas - will be brought back, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar told NDTV this morning, after a chartered flight carrying over 200 students landed in Delhi. The government is committed to helping them, Mr Chandrasekhar said.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the country and the government will always stand with those Indians, anywhere in the world, who are in trouble," the Union Minister stressed.

At 7 AM the first flight under "Operation Ajay" landed at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, where they were received by Mr Chandrasekhar. This flight was arranged to facilitate the return of those unable to do so because Air India had suspended its flight on October 7, when the war began

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Air India commercial operation have been suspended since.

"We are thankful... most students were panicked. (But then) we saw notifications through the Embassy of India, which boosted our morale... was a relief," Shubham Kumar, a student, told PTI.

There is still a long queue of Indians, including students, at the Tel Aviv airport waiting to board special flights being operated under 'Operation Ajay', PTI has said. On that note, Mr Chandrasekhar told NDTV, "This operation will continue till every Indian citizen who wants to come home is brought home."

There are over 18,000 Indians are in Israel and around 6,000 wish to return home.

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Israel has vowed an unprecedented offensive against Hamas after its gunmen stormed into its southern regions and slaughtered over 1,000 people, including civilians, and took hundreds hostage.

Tel Aviv has launched devastating aerial strikes as its first response and is widely expected to initiate ground attacks this week; over three lakh soldiers have been called up or moved to the Gaza border.

The death toll in Gaza is nearing 1,500, reports by its health ministry and the United Nations have said, with over 6,000 injured. 2.3 million people in Gaza face a humanitarian disaster after Israel ordered a "complete siege", and are now without electricity and are running low on food, medicines and water.

READ | Israel Asks Gaza City Civilians To Evacuate, UN Calls Order "Impossible"

Israel has demanded that over a million Gazan civilians relocate in less than 24 hours or face mass casualties as its forces prep to invade Gaza City. The UN has urged Israel to reconsider this move.