212 citizens onboard the flight are enroute New Delhi. Twitter/@DrSJaishankar

Chants of ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ were heard loud mid-air on the first charter flight that evacuated 212 Indians from war-battered Israel.

The flight, under Operation Ajay, departed from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on Thursday evening and arrived in New Delhi in the early hours of Friday.

Operation Ajay was launched by India on Wednesday to facilitate the return of Indians who wish to return home as a series of brazen attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas since Saturday (October 7) triggered fresh tension in the region.

Ahead of the take-off, there was a long queue of Indians, including students, at the airport in Tel Aviv to board the special flight being operated under Operation Ajay.

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar welcomed the passengers at the Delhi airport as they streamed into the lounge area from the tarmac side.

Chandrasekhar greeted the Indians returning from Israel with folded hands and also shook hands with many of them saying, “Welcome home”.

The Indian embassy in Israel has announced a second flight for Friday and has sent out emails registering to leave on a “first come first serve basis”.

On Thursday, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said around 18,000 Indians are currently residing in Israel while about a dozen people are in the West Bank and three to four are in Gaza.

The Israeli casualties surged past 1,300, while Gaza authorities have reported the deaths of over 1,500 Palestinians as the Israel-Hamas war entered its seventh day on Friday. The total death toll currently stands at around 2,800.

With inputs from agencies