More than 60% of Israelis seeking to come home have returned — Airports Authority

Sharon Wrobel is a tech reporter for The Times of Israel

An El Al airplane is seen in the sky above Tel Aviv, March 6, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
An El Al airplane is seen in the sky above Tel Aviv, March 6, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Israel Airports Authority says over 60 percent of Israelis who were stranded abroad upon the outbreak of the Iran war have returned, mainly via air routes and land border crossings with Egypt and Jordan.

Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport was gradually reopened Wednesday night for inbound flights, to help repatriate around 100,000 Israelis stuck abroad after the country’s airspace was shut on February 28 as US-Israeli strikes began. Since the partial reopening of Ben Gurion, about 32,000 Israelis have returned home on 177 repatriation flights operated by Israeli airlines, as of yesterday, the Israel Airports Authority says.

Another 40 repatriation flights carrying an estimated 7,000 passengers were expected to land today.

Between February 28 and March 9, a total of 25,000 Israelis who were abroad returned to the country via land border crossings with Egypt and Jordan. During the same period, 31,000 people departed Israel via land border crossings.

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