Seven More Expatriates From Odisha Return Home Safely From War-Torn Israel

Bhubaneswar: Another batch of seven persons from Odisha have returned home safely after being evacuated from the war-hit Israel under ‘Operation Ajay’.

Odia Language Literature & Culture Department welcomed these returnees, who witnessed the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict from close quarters, at Biju Patnaik International Airport here.

“We could not sleep with blaring sirens amid rocket attacks and lived under the constant threat of infiltration by the Hamas terrorists. We had to hide in bomb shelters ,” said K Bishal, which recalling the panic situation after Hamas’ multi-pronged attack on the country’s south.

Earlier, nine students from Odisha had retuned with the first batch of 212 Indian nationals, who reached New Delhi on October 13. Satyaranjan Biswal of Puri, a fourth-year PhD student of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, was among the 235 Indian nationals who reached New Delhi the following day.

They were put up at Odisha Bhawan in the national capital before being flown back home.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had earlier tweeted, thanking the Ministry of External Affairs for successfully carrying out the rescue mission.