New Delhi: As many as nine Odias among 212 Indians stranded in war-hit Israel safely returned to the country yesterday.

A chartered flight carrying the first batch of Indian citizens including 9 Odias stuck in Israel amid ongoing war with Hamas, arrived in New Delhi on Friday. They were Jiten Kumar Patnaik and his wife, Satabdi Nayak, Barun Barik, Bhupesh Meher, Bimalendu Mohapatra, Sumant Sahoo, Nilakantha Meher and Subrat Meher.

After their return, they were accommodated at Odisha Niwas in Delhi. Most of the returnees made their way back to Odisha on a flight on Friday evening.

The repatriated Odias thanked the Indian Government as well Odisha Government upon their safe return from Israel and shared their experience.

All the returnees, most of them students, said that they had not experienced that much war chaos as they were residing in northern Israel. However, they felt panic whenever the siren was blown for the war.

"The Israel authorities were suggesting us to take safety measures. When there was a siren, the students managed to shift to safe places where the houses were built of iron," said Satabdi Nayak, a student.

"The situation on border areas in Israel is very worst. But the missiles targeted by Hamas against common people in Israel were effectively neutralized," said another student Bhupesh Meher, praising Israel's security system that kept them safe during the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The Odias were in the contact with the Indian Embassy in Israel after the Hamas launched fedayeen attacks killing many civilians and foreign nationals and taking them hostages in Israel.

The Centre on Wednesday launched ‘Operation Ajay’ to bring back stranded citizens from Israel, which is fighting with Hamas. This came after Air India and other airlines suspended all its commercial operations to and from Israel as the war began on October 7.

According to the government, special chartered flights will bring back the Indians under this operation, and the Indian Navy ships will also be deployed if the need arises.

There are around 18,000 Indians in Israel including students, professionals, and traders. While nine Odias were brought back to India in the first batch, 50 more Odias are still stranded in Israel. They are stated to be safe and will return to the country subsequently.