Israel-Hamas conflict: All you need to know about India's 'Operation Ajay'

India on Wednesday launched Operation Ajay to bring back Indians from Israel as the conflict escalated, with Israel retaliating against Hamas's attack that started on Saturday. 

Israel has declared war against Hamas and set up an emergency war-time cabinet, while Hamas said it is ready for a long-drawn conflict. 

As a strategic partner of Israel, India condemned the Hamas attack, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed solidarity with Israel. As soon as the conflict broke out, the external affairs minister alerted Indians in Israel to exercise caution. The ministry came up with a helpline number, and India launched Operation Ajay on the fifth day of the conflict.

Here's all you need to know about Operation Ajay

1. Operation Ajay is not technically an evacuation operation. It is an operation to repatriate its citizens from Israel.

2. Special chartered flights will bring back the Indians. If required, Indian Navy ships will also be deployed.

3. Indians in Israel who wish to return will be facilitated in this operation. There are around 18,000 Indians in Israel, including students, professionals and traders. 

"Launching #OperationAjay to facilitate the return from Israel of our citizens who wish to return. Special charter flights and other arrangements [are] being put in place. Fully committed to the safety and well-being of our nationals abroad," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar wrote on x (formerly Twitter).

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He also spoke to UAE's foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed on Wednesday.

4. The first flight is on Thursday, as the embassy in Tel Aviv emailed the first batch of registered Indians in Israel. "Messages to other registered people will follow for subsequent flights," the mission said.

5. A 24-hour control room in New Delhi is monitoring the situation in Israel and Palestine. The phone numbers for the control room are 1800118797 (toll free), +91-11 23012113, +91-11-23014104, +91-11-23017905 and +919968291988, and the email ID is situationroom@mea.gov.in. 

The Indian embassy's 24-hour emergency helpline can also be accessed on the numbers +972-35226748 and +972-543278392, and the email ID cons1.telaviv@mea.gov.in

6. The first batch of Indians is likely to return from Israel on Thursday.

7. Israel's Consul General in Mumbai, Kobbi Shoshani, said on Tuesday that more than 20,000 Indians live in Israel. However, there was no report of any Indian national getting injured or killed in the ongoing fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas.

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Many Bollywood actors were also present at an event in Israel when Hamas launched its incursions on Saturday, he added.

8. Bollywood Actor Nushrratt Bharuccha was in Israel to attend the Haifa International Film Festival when the conflict began. The actor was safely brought back to India.

9. Around 27 people from Meghalaya, including Rajya Sabha member Wanweiroy Kharlukhi, were stranded in Bethlehem when the conflict broke out. The MEA arranged for their safe passage into Egypt.

2023 Israel–Hamas war

At least 2,200 people have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, which entered the fifth day. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with a leading Opposition leader, formed an emergency war-time cabinet to oversee the fight against Hamas.

Also Read: As strikes destroy Gaza, Israel forms govt to oversee war sparked by Hamas

Israel has unleashed an increasingly destructive bombardment in Gaza that has flattened entire city blocks and left unknown numbers of bodies beneath mounds of debris. Militants in Gaza continued to fire rockets at Israel on Wednesday, including a heavy barrage at the southern town of Ashkelon.

(With agency input)