India RESCUE
First Chartered Rescue Flight by India under ‘Op Ajay’ reaches Israel
Rashmi Talwar
AMRITSAR OCTOBER 12, 2023—–
As many as 230 Indian passengers readied themselves for the first “Ops Ajay” rescue and evacuation chartered flight tonight from Israel, that would land them in safety to their home countries from the war zone of the Israel-Hamas-Palestine War. This is the first batch that would be evacuated out of the conflict zone and flight parameters are fervently being worked out for more flights for stranded Indians. This is the first group of Indians to be notified of evacuation.
India is in touch with Tel Aviv, Israel for the safe rescue of 18000 of its nationals that are stuck in the Israel-Palestine war zone. Special charter flights and necessary arrangements under the operations are underway till the filing of this report. “We don’t rule out other flights including using Indian Air Force planes for evacuation “, said the Ministry of Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi addressing a press conference today.
India has launched Ops Ajay in a phased evacuation of its citizens from Israel. External EAM spokesman said the Indian embassy continues to compile lists of its citizens and has given a call in Israel to its citizens to contact its embassies in Tel Aviv and Ramallah and register themselves urgently.
Has the Israeli embassy contacted India regarding a return flight to bring back its Israelis to their home country in the same return flight?” “Only the Israel embassy can answer this, but no barter flight modalities are worked out till now with Israel”, MEA said. On how worrisome was the situation?” The MEA said there was a call out by the Indian embassy to its citizens to follow the advisory issued by Tel Aviv strictly. He admitted to the MEA being concerned over the injury of one Indian citizen and was in touch with the person in hospital and denied any casualty of Indian so far.
About security concerns, the MEA said “Obligations under Vienna conventions” are being followed to evacuate safely our citizens. Concerning any weapons or support to Israel the MEA said India has received no such demands or feelers from Israel.
On the Evacuation of those on the high-density conflict sites like the Gaza Strip and the West Bank the MEA said there were a dozen or 13 people in the West Bank and 3-4 in the Gaza Strip and we are in touch, there are constraints, but we will take them if they request assistance. “How does India see Hamas?”- “It should be clear that we see this (Hamas ) as a terrorist attack! How does India see the situation in Palestine? He said “India policy in this regard has been longstanding and consistent. India has always advocated the resumption of direct negotiations towards establishing a sovereign, independent, and viable state of Palestine living within secure and recognized borders side by side at peace with Israel. That remains our position to date.”
How do we see developments that are happening including the violence the PM raised some issues? “I like to add there is a universal obligation to observe international humanitarian law; There is also a global responsibility to fight the menace of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations that sums up India’s position.”
Meantime the Ministry of External Affairs has established a 24/7 control room in Delhi to oversee the operation. Separate emergency helplines and Tel Aviv and Ramallah are operational to monitor the situation in Israel and Palestine. India’s efforts aim to assist over 18000 Indians in Israel including a small number of students, caregivers, diamond traders, and IT professionals.
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Russian Prez Putin concerned over loss of civilian lives in Israel Hamas war: Let Men fight
“Leave woman and children alone!” Russian President Vladimir Putin said on day 6th of October 12th of the Israel-Hamas war.
Urging both sides to minimize loss of civilian lives, in retaliation to Hamas atrocities on Israeli soil, as Israel Defense force continued to pummel Palestine terror assets in Gaza, the Russian Prez urged both sides to aim for minimum loss of civilian population including women and children in an ‘X’ video post.
“What’s happening is terrible. We understand that the level of violence is very high on both sides but nonetheless, no matter how high it is, we need to aim to minimize the losses to the civilian population, to minimize casualties among women, children, and elderly people. “If men decide to fight, let them fight each other. Leave the women and children alone, this applies to both sides”, the Russian boomed.
Russian President’s remarks come at a time when a terrorist group Hamas indiscriminately massacred children in Israel which was confirmed by US President Joe Biden. The Palestine side also alleges similar atrocities on women and children by Israel.
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India’s Recent Rescue Operations
India has undertaken successful evacuation operations including Operation Ganga” to evacuate Indians from Ukraine, and “Operation Kaveri” to bring back Indian nationals from Sudan during times of civil unrest there. A third ”Operation Ajay” for Israel Palestine is added to the list no
Hamas launched a “surprise attack” on Israel on October 7 with a volley of rockets into Israel. Israel declared war on Palestine thereafter. As many as 2100 were killed in the Israel-Hamas War. About 18000 Indians are stranded in the war zones.
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84 countries supporting Israel, 20 countries with Palestine-Hamas
As many as 84 countries of the world are supporting Israel and 20 countries with Palestine-Hamas. However, 28 United Nations member states still do not recognize Israel. Israel maintains full diplomatic relations with two of its Arab neighbors Egypt and Jordan after signing peace treaties in 1979 and 1994 respectively. In 2020 Israel signed agreements with four of the Arab League including Bahrain, UAE, Sudan, and Morocco. Egypt was the first Arab country to establish ties with Israel.
Palestine has the support of Iran, Pakistan, Oman, Kuwait, Turkey, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. Bangladesh, Brunei, Sudan, Algeria, Malaysia, and others. Israel is supported by many Western countries including the “5 eyes” USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand Israel. Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Hungary, Czech Republic, Europe, and Japan.
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Kashmiri Woman in Palestine seeks evacuation, FO seized of the matter
A Kashmiri Lubna Nazir Shaboo seeks evacuation from Palestine. India received a distress call from a Kashmiri woman Lubna, Nazir Shaboo on a social media video. Lubna claimed she was stuck in Gaza where Hamas struck Israel with rockets amid a raging war between Israel and Hamas. Lubna, an academic, and a resident of Srinagar is married to a Palestine and has reached out to India’s Foreign Office (FO) for rescue from the Gaza Strip he has come under Israel’s siege cutting off water, electricity, and food to the region besides plugging all exit points of the territory. The government is seized of the matter said Arindam Bagchi, Spokesperson of the Indian FO during a press conference today. He said as many as a dozen or 13 Indians are stuck in the Gaza Strip and about 3-4 are stranded in the West Bank side.
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The writer can be reached at rashmitalwarno1@gmail.com
Rashmi Talwar Saanjh-Togetherness 
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