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.
Britons trapped in Israel have told of their anger and fear after an official evacuation flight promised by the government failed to appear.
The diamond specialist, 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' and has since criticised the UK Government for how it has handled evacuation efforts. When she received confirmation of her registration for a British government evacuation flight due out of Tel Aviv she wept with relief.
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.
'A plane had been coming in from Latvia to repatriate us but it hadn't even taken off. It was chaos, there were people there with union flags on their jackets and polo shirts but they had any clue what the government was doing. She added: 'I just needed to get home but I felt abandoned by my own country. There was no proper communication, that was the worst part, not knowing what to do or where to go. I was in Israel visiting my daughter who was celebrating her birthday - today I feel like I'm in freefall.'
Pictured yesterday is a provisional office for the evacuation of British citizens at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, IsraelTravellers waiting for evacuation flights from Israel are pictured sitting on the ground at Tel Aviv airport today They also got as far as the check in desks before they were told the British rescue mission had been delayed until 11.45pm and then that it had failed altogether.
Naftali, a student, 19, said some of his friends had their evacuation flight to the UK from Israel cancelled as their 'plane never made it to the runway'.Naftali, who studies in Jerusalem, was among the passengers who arrived on an El Al flight from Tel Aviv at Luton Airport today. He said he had been woken up by air raid sirens and taken cover in bomb shelters since the Hamas attack on Saturday.
Gitty Stern, another passenger who landed at Luton from Tel Aviv, said more flights should be arranged for those wanting to return from Israel to the UK. Pictured: Israeli emergency team look on damage following a rocket attack on the central city of Rehovot, Israel today Two attempts by the Government to organise flights to repatriate British nationals from Israel have failed - despite the US and Australia successfully running UK-bound flights, aviation sources revealed today.
It is understood that one of the reasons for the lack of flights is Titan Airways, the contracted airline, having difficulties arranging insurance.A Foreign Office 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 today
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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Chartered flight to evacuate Britons from Israel has left the country with more expected to depart...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.
Read more »