Israel Mobilizes Reservists Abroad as Conflict with Hamas Escalates

On Monday, Israel announced an emergency plan that could be activated in case foreign airlines completely stopped operating flights to the country following the surprise offensive launched by Hamas against Israel on Saturday. An increased number of flights to Israel from the airports of New York, Frankfurt, Athens and Dubai have been set up by Israeli airlines as part of this emergency plan. More than 100,000 of them have already returned to the country since the conflict broke out on Saturday, according to a statement from Israeli Transport Minister Miri Regev.

This Tuesday, the Israeli airlines El Al, Israir and Arkia announced through a message on their websites that they have added flights to repatriate the reservists. A measure taken after the cancellation by many major airlines of several flights to and from Israel as many Israelis who celebrated the Jewish holiday abroad must return to the country. Israir Airlines offers flights from Larnaca in Turkey, Corfu in Greece and Batumi in Georgia. Arkia has also offered flights between Athens, the Greek capital, and Eilat, in southern Israel, as well as between Marrakech, Morocco, and Tel Aviv, among others, it is specified.

On Saturday, Hamas launched the "Al-Aqsa Deluge" operation from Gaza against Israel before 6:30 a.m. (3:30 a.m. GMT). In total, more than "5,000 rockets" were fired. The Israeli retaliation did not wait. The toll is heavy. On the Israeli side, more than 900 people have been killed and 2,616 others have been injured since the start of the offensive. On the Palestinian side, local authorities report 687 dead and 3,727 injured. On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised that "every place from which [Hamas] operates will become a ruin" and that the ongoing "massive attack" in the Gaza Strip will be "of an intensity that has never occurred before".