First Qantas repatriation flight leaves Israel with Australian passengers

Australians attempting to leave Israel have boarded their first repatriation flight out of the country, amid concerns airports could be shut down.

A DFAT official assisting passengers onto their repatriation flight.

The first Australian repatriation flight has departed from Israel’s Ben Gurion airport en route to London amid concerns that the country’s airports could be shut down in the event of a war with Hamas terrorists.

Overseeing the pre-screening of passengers, Australia’s ambassador to Israel, Ralph King, said the airport remained open for the time being but the “situation could change” at a moment’s notice.

The Albanese government approved two Qantas flights to assist Australians in the country after airlines began cancelling tickets to Israel, leading to a sharp increase in the cost of fares. “In the current situation, the priority is to put these flights on for people in distress and who want to leave,” he said.

Mr King added that 500 Australians have already left Israel, with another 19 known to be in Gaza. Passengers who spoke to The Australian appeared to have mixed feelings about their departure.

Sofia Husni, who arrived in Israel a year ago, said she and her husband would most probably have stayed in Israel if not for the concerns they held for their children. “If it was left to my husband and I we would probably stay, but the gaggle of kids. It’s very hard at the moment.”

Ms Husni said her mother is staying and that she hoped to return in as little as two weeks, a timeline that would seem optimistic to many. “We’d love them (the children) to come back to school as soon as possible,” she said.

Sofia Husni with her children. Ms Husni said her preference was to stay in Israel, like her mother, but made the decision because of her kids.

Patrick Dolan and daughter Ziv, from Melbourne, who came to Israel and lived on a kibbutz where she was learning to speak Hebrew. Mr Dolan was travelling in Israel with his wife and visiting his daughter when the conflict flared up.

Patrick Dolan had been on holiday in Israel with his wife to visit their daughter, Ziv, aged 18, who was studying Hebrew on a kibbutz, when the decision was made to pack up the family and head back to Australia for the time being.

“When the situation broke out, the instability seemed like a good time to bring (Ziv) home. She can come back at a later date,” he said. “My wife is from Israel and it’s not the first time we’ve had situations flare up and calm down, but just the extent of the attack and what’s happened, and the casualties, it’s sort of unsettling.”

Keanu Vicente, 28, from the Gold Coast, is leaving Israel with his partner amid concerns about the flare up in violence.

Another passenger, Keanu Vicente, aged 28, spoke of his own heartbreak at leaving Israel. He arrived two years ago during the Covid outbreak and said the departure, namely the need for a repatriation flight, felt painfully familiar to that period.

Living in the country’s north, he said the threat of a second front opening up with Lebanon, and the menace of rocket fire and false alarms, had left him and his partner reaching their limits.

“I’m just very concerned and very nervous and it’s been a really awful week. I just feel like I need to get home to family, somewhere I feel much safer, but it’s hard leaving everyone here,” he said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade set up a special station in Ben Gurion airport to pre-screen passengers boarding the repatriation flight.

“All of our friends and family are from the north, so if anything starts happening … I just hate that everyone is going through this non-stop.”