Nepal sends plane to evacuate citizens from war-hit Israel

 Nepal: Six days after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented assault on Israel, killing ten Nepalis and hundreds of Israelis and other nationals, Nepal is preparing to airlift its citizens from the war-torn West Asian country, starting Thursday. Fighting still continues in southern Israel.

                                   photo: Nepal Airlines

The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and has been fighting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories for decades, launched a surprise attack on Israel from air, sea and land early morning on Saturday. The deceased Nepali students had reached Israel under the ‘Learn and Earn Programme’. Four students are injured and one is unaccounted for, according to the Nepali Embassy in Israel.

It is the highest number of Nepali casualties on foreign soil in militant attacks since 2016 when 14 Nepalis were killed in a suicide attack by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The repatriation of the bodies, however, may take time, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

The Nepali embassy in Israel set up a hotline on Sunday, the day after the attack, and asked Nepalis wishing to return home to provide their details.

On Wednesday, the foreign ministry said nearly 400 Nepalis have registered their names on the embassy’s website.

As per the plan, the 274-seater Airbus A330 of Nepal Airlines will leave Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport at 2:30 am on Thursday and reach Tel Aviv at 9:10 am (local time) the same day, said Ramesh Poudel, spokesperson for Nepal Airlines.

According to him, the aircraft will leave Tel Aviv at 11:10 am (local time) and land in Kathmandu at 8:20 pm. “The aircraft will bring 260 people.”

Poudel said that the second evacuation flight, however, is yet to be announced.

The total two-way flight time between Kathmandu and Tel Aviv is 15 hours and 20 minutes.

Poudel said that the flight will touch down at Dubai International Airport for mandatory security screening, before leaving for Tel Aviv.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Sewa Lamsal told a press meeting on Wednesday that repatriation of the bodies may take time. “We haven't received the bodies. The Israeli government has not handed over the bodies as there are some protocols like postmortem to follow.”

“We, however, have requested the Israeli government to expedite the process.”

Lamsal said that given the ongoing situation in Israel, they are not in a position to hand over the bodies immediately.

The foreign ministry has requested the victims' families to understand the situation.

The Cabinet meeting on Wednesday decided to send Foreign Minister NP Saud on the Nepal Airlines flight.

According to the ministry, a total of 265 Nepali students from different Nepali universities had reached Israel under the Israeli government’s ‘Learn and Earn’ programme.

As many as 17 students from the Sudurpaschim University fell victim to Hamas attacks as they were studying in areas closer to the Gaza Strip, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Around 4,500 Nepalis are working as caregivers in Israel, the ministry said.

Many video clips posted online by Nepalis living in Israel pleading for rescue have drawn public attention.

According to CNN, a multinational news channel and website headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, US, at least 1,200 people in Israel have died as a result of the Hamas attacks as of Wednesday.

Likewise, more than 900 people have died in Gaza after Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes on Saturday, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The names and numbers of the flight crews on such missions are normally kept secret from the families and the public, the officials said.

When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, the Nepal government sent a Royal Nepal Airlines plane to Kuwait to bring back its citizens.

In 2014, Iraq faced a crisis after the Islamic State launched a deadly attack. Nepalis in the Gulf country were trapped. After a clamour from relatives of the Nepali nationals working in Iraq, a Nepal Airlines plane was dispatched to bring back Nepali citizens home.

On June 22, 2016, the bodies of 14 Nepalis killed in the Kabul suicide bombing were flown to Kathmandu from the Afghan capital.

The 14 Nepalis, working as security guards at the Canadian Embassy in Kabul, died in a Taliban suicide attack while they were heading to the work station in a bus. A chartered flight from Nepal Airlines also brought 24 Nepalis working in Afghanistan on that flight.

 

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