German air force flies German nationals out of Israel

The German air force has flown several dozen German citizens out of Israel amid the ongoing hostilities with Iran.

Two Airbus A400M military aircraft with 64 people on board are currently on their way to Germany, the Defence Ministry and the Foreign Office said Friday evening.

Due to the armed conflict, the airspace in both countries is actually closed to air traffic.

The group of German citizens was flown out of Israel as part of a "diplomatic evacuation," the German government said.

"The flights were carried out at short notice in close coordination with the Israeli authorities and were primarily intended for families with children and other vulnerable persons."

According to a report by the German news magazine Der Spiegel, the two planes took off from Wunstorf near Hanover Friday morning and landed in Tel Aviv in the late afternoon with special permission.

Shortly afterwards, the military planes took off again. The Foreign Office and the Defence Ministry did not provide any information on this in their statements.

Over the past two days, Germans and close family members had already been flown out on special flights – not directly from Israel, but from Jordan.

On Thursday, a plane arrived in Berlin. On Wednesday, there had been a flight to Frankfurt. A total of 345 people were on these two flights. These were charter flights; the air force was not involved.

The Foreign Office had facilitated the departure via Jordan. Another special flight from Jordan is scheduled for Saturday.

Defence Minister Boris Pistorius thanked the soldiers. "We can rely on our Bundeswehr. After only a short warning time, our air force crews were on site. They carried out their mission in the crisis region with great professionalism."

Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said: "My sincere thanks go to our comrades in the Bundeswehr and our representatives on the ground for their courageous commitment today, which has enabled more Germans to leave the Middle East."