Despite paying £300 per seat around 180 citizens found themselves stranded in country preparing for war. Jewellery designer Olivia Grace and families with young children, people in wheelchairs were among those who say they were abandoned.
A chartered flight to evacuate vulnerable Britons from Israel has left the country with more flights expected to depart in the coming days, the Foreign Office has said.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has also said the UK is doing 'everything we can to ensure the security of British citizens' after the Defence Secretary said it seemed 'very likely' that there are British hostages in Gaza. Pictured on Thursday is a provisional office for the evacuation of British citizens at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel
Families with young children and people in wheelchairs were among those who say they were abandoned by consular officials and offered no food or water. Celebrity jewellery designer Olivia Grace, 50, from London, was among those booked onto the non-existent flight. Ms Grace, who has spent more than £5,000 on commercial airline tickets in her bid to get home, said she 'felt abandoned by my own country'
Wizz Air: 'Attention all passengers travelling to/from Israel. Due to the escalation of the conflict in Israel, Wizz Air cancels all of its Israel flights for October 8-13. Affected passengers are notified via SMS/email. Further updates regarding flights to/from Israel beyond October 13 will be issued in due course. If you are to travel on Israel flights in the next days please proactively check Flight Info for the latest updates on your departure.
'There were two British consular crisis people there when I arrived about 7pm. They led us through the initial security, told us to check in at 8.30pm for the flight at 11.45pm,' she told MailOnline yesterday. 'We were told to go back to wherever we had come from. I was able to get into a hotel in Tel Aviv, the 65 Hotel Rothschild, which was being run by a skeleton staff of volunteers, and is full of people taking refuge from the conflict in the south. The hotel was doing its best to open its arms to everyone - if I hadn't found a place there I'd have been out on the street.
She had not been officially told of its existence but had found out via word of mouth from other British nationals trapped in Israel's unfolding horror. The retired grandparents who live in London and have a second home in Israel, were also sent emails confirming their places on the evacuation flight, after commercial carriers suspended operations.
'Even if the fight was going out in the early hours, we wanted to be on it, we wanted to get home to our children and grandchildren. We felt angry and anxious, in a big huddle with all the other British nationals just waiting and waiting for news. UK airlines, including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, have suspended all flights between the UK and Tel Aviv due to safety concerns.
'I have quite a few friends and family that need to come back to the UK, but they're still stuck with no flights back,' she said.She said: 'We were worried as we didn't know what the next day would bring.' Palestinian citizens inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City yesterday . Israel has sealed off Gaza and launched sustained retaliatory air strikes
A flight organised by Britain was initially planned to arrive at London Gatwick Airport this morning but that was cancelled amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. A FCDO spokeswoman said: 'This is a fluid situation, and we are currently working to ensure the flight can proceed as soon as possible.' A woman is pictured embracing a fellow traveller as they wait for evacuation flights from Tel Aviv airport yesterday
READ MORE Get out NOW: Israel drops flyers telling 1.1 million in Northern Gaza to flee 'immediately' He added: 'We are making our decisions on a multiple number of sources. We are engaging with probably 10 or 12 different authorities, government authorities, security experts, alongside the expertise that we have within ourselves.'We want to start up again. We believe it's an important route to have in place. But for now, when we have weighed up all the information that we have, we have decided to continue to suspend the operation.
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