German special flight brings home 171 from Israel

A special flight carrying German nationals and their relatives stuck in Israel amid the fighting with Iran landed in Frankfurt on Wednesday evening.

The aircraft took off from the Jordanian capital Amman carrying 171 people looking to leave the region, the German Foreign Office said earlier on X.

A special flight is also planned for Thursday, but it is already fully booked. Another flight is being planned, according to the Foreign Office. Germans who want to leave Israel must make their own way to neighbouring Jordan.

Other European countries, such as Poland, have organized a convoy to Jordan for their citizens. The Foreign Office is calling on Germans to register on its Elefand crisis prevention list.

According to the German government, organized transport from Israel to Jordan could bear additional risks.

Instead Berlin has asked its citizens to follow security instructions by the Israeli authorities who have advised against attending large gatherings and travelling across the country, according to the ministry.

A German Foreign Office spokesman previously stressed that Berlin was not conducting evacuations but "commercial special flights," as commercial airlines have suspended flights to and from Israel amid the conflict.

The flights are set to continue "if the situation continues to allow it and if there's need," he said.

German citizens currently in Iran have been advised to leave the country via Armenia, Turkey or Azerbaijan, with commercial flights to Germany available in all three neighbouring countries.

The German Foreign Office has urged its citizens to return home from Iran, saying "our embassy in Tehran will provide assistance in leaving the country if possible, for example through direct contact with the Iranian authorities."