An Australian who landed in London after taking a repatriation flight from Tel Aviv has described the “difficult decision” he faced when leaving his Israeli partner in the country.
Blake Jory spoke to Weekend Today from Heathrow Airport after the first Australian repatriation flight landed in London (Heathrow) at 7.45pm local time (5.45am+1 AEDT) after departing Ben Gurion Airport at 4.25pm local time (12.25am+1 AEDT).
Jory was one of 220 on board the Qantas Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
His Israeli partner has been called up for service as a reservist, forcing him to leave her in the country while he waits in London.
“It’s really hard. Today’s been an extremely tough day,” Jory told Today.
“We made the decision for me to come… Leave Israel because it could get really messy really soon.
“She’s going to go into the south, into the war zone.
“I’m just praying for her and thinking about her every second.”
He said she was happy to fight for her country and defend her people.
“There’s a lot of sadness and pain, you know, due to these tragic events that Hamas have unleashed.
“I definitely feel some relief. I’m feeling much better a lot safer.”
He said it was an easy process to register with the Department of Foreign Affairs and he was lucky enough to be one of the chosen ones to get on the first flight.
Jory said the mood on the flight was positive.
“Qantas was making everyone feel really comfortable and they were doing such a great job… like, everyone was smiling.
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“I was seeing people smile for the first time in, like a week.”
A second Qantas 236-seater Boeing 787 Dreamliner will leave Tel Aviv on route to London on Sunday.
Then on Tuesday, a Qantas Airbus A380 will depart London (via Singapore) and land in Sydney on Wednesday afternoon, offering 484 seats to Australian-Israeli refugees for free.
All Israelis will be provided with accommodation in London while they wait for the Tuesday flight back to Australia.
It comes as Israel’s military directed the evacuation of northern Gaza, a region that is home to 1.1 million people, within 24 hours on Friday.
The order could signal an impending ground offensive, though the Israeli military has not yet confirmed such a plan.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is coordinating registration for Australians travelling on all three flights,” Qantas said in a statement.
Qantas said 900 crew offered to help with the flights, which far exceeded the required amount of 70 people required.
“We sincerely thank all of them, and all those working behind the scenes to make these special assistance flights possible,” Qantas said.
“The sudden nature of these rescue flights will mean disruption for some customers on our international network, and the airline is contacting those customers directly.
“We’re working to minimise the impact as much as possible and appreciate their understanding.”
Yesterday Foreign Minister Penny Wong urged Australians in Israel to contact the Department of Foreign Affairs to get on one of the flights.
She said the government was working on organising a third flight out of Tel Aviv.
For urgent consular assistance, Australians should continue to call the Australian Government’s 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on +61 2 6261 3305 (from overseas) or 1300 555 135 (from within Australia).
