Five Keralites evacuated from Israel return home

Kochi: Five Keralites, who were part of the first batch to be evacuated from strife-torn Israel under 'Operation Ajay', returned to their homes here on Friday.

While their journey from Israel to Delhi was free of cost, those flying to the various Kerala airports had to buy tickets.

In the first flight that landed in Delhi, there were seven people from Kerala, five of whom landed in Kochi.

A woman hailing from Palakkad had only good words to speak about the Indian Embassy officials. "They were very prompt in their response and were always available to give us the full moral support," she said.

A female PhD student hailing from Malappuram said that if not for her parents' anxiety, she would have stayed back. "Last Saturday, we got to know that rockets had been fired into our area. But then things were normal and our University also functioned normally. In Israel incidents like this happen and when there is an alarm, we all take shelter in the bunkers. I returned for my parents," said the research scholar.

The news being aired is about the action taking place in and around the Gaza strip and at the Lebanese border, said a man, who works in Israel and is eagerly waiting for things to cool down there as he wants to return.

"Apart from these two places, by and large life in other parts of Israel has not been affected,” he added.

According to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, there are around 7,000 people from Kerala in the strife-torn nation. A good number of them are female nurses and students besides others who are employed there.