An Air Self-Defense Force plane has evacuated a total of 83 people, including Japanese and South Koreans, from Israel to Jordan, the Japanese government said Friday, amid the intensifying war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The KC-767 refueling and transport aircraft will arrive at Haneda airport in Tokyo early Saturday. The 83 passengers comprise 60 Japanese and 18 South Koreans and their foreign family members, the Japanese foreign and defense ministries said.
Japan dispatched the plane last Saturday and it had been on standby in Jordan since Tuesday in preparation for airlifting Japanese citizens from Israel, where Hamas launched a surprise attack on Oct. 7, triggering the ongoing conflict.
On Thursday evening, the Japanese and other evacuees gathered at an airport in Tel Aviv, where the KC-767 picked them up.
"Since I have small children, I greatly appreciate being able to return to Japan without connecting flights," said a 38-year-old woman evacuating with her two sons.
Two ASDF C-2 transport airplanes that Japan sent along with the KC-767 will continue to stand by for possible evacuations. One of them is currently in Jordan and the other is in Djibouti, according to the ministries.
Japan's Self-Defense Forces have an operating base in Djibouti, a tiny country in the Horn of Africa about 2,000 kilometers south of Israel, as part of an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia.
Last weekend, 51 Japanese nationals were evacuated from Israel on a South Korean military transport aircraft to an air base outside Seoul, and eight more left Tel Aviv for Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on a Japan-chartered flight.
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