In a heartwarming display of international cooperation, five Singaporeans were successfully evacuated from Israel on October 14th, with the aid of a South Korean military transport plane, according to The Straits Times.
The Evacuation
The South Korean Foreign Ministry and Defence Ministry revealed in an announcement that a military aircraft, specifically the South Korean Air Force’s KC-330 Cygnus transport aircraft, was employed to bring a total of 220 individuals back to their home country, according to The Korean Herald.
Among these evacuees included 5 Singaporeans, 51 Japanese, and 163 South Korean nationals.
The Aircraft
The KC-330 Cygnus transport aircraft is an instrumental piece in this mission. With the capability to carry up to 230 passengers in a single trip, it proved to be the ideal choice for this evacuation.
Departure from South Korea
The aircraft’s journey commenced in South Korea, with its departure on the afternoon of 13 October. The aircraft’s destination was Ben Gurion Airport, Israel’s primary airport in Tel Aviv before picking up the evacuees and departing from Israel on 14 October.
It then reached an airport near Seoul later that evening.
Recap on Israel – Hamas war
Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an assault on Israel on 7 October and killed more than 1,400 Israelis as well as taking several dozens of hostages.
After infiltrating Israeli territory, the militants took hostages and transported them back into Gaza. This act further exacerbated the crisis, placing innocent lives in grave danger.
The horrifying scenes of Israeli civilians being shot, kidnapped, and assaulted were captured on camera and shared widely on both social media and mainstream news outlets. These images have left the global community in a state of shock and disbelief.
In response, the Israel Defence Force formally declared war on Hamas the next day and commenced an offensive and responded with airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 2,215 Palestinians.
Israel also then cut off food, water, electricity and fuel supplies to Gaza, and ordered the evacuation of about 1.1 million Gazans.
Images source: Hareem Shah on X