Another 44 Australians have arrived home from Israel, on the third repatriation flight from the Middle East.
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00:00 Well, there was plenty of emotion this morning, Lorna, as Australians who were in Israel landed
00:07 safely in Sydney.
00:09 And this is the third group of Australians to come home and touch down back on Australian
00:14 soil with the help of the Australian government.
00:17 So those people had been transferred from Tel Aviv to Dubai, and this Emirates flight
00:22 landed around 6.30am, carrying passengers, including 44 people who had been put on the
00:28 flight by DFAT.
00:30 And we heard a mix of emotions.
00:33 There were people who were feeling a lot of relief to be back in Australia.
00:37 Others were very grateful to the federal government for their help, but there were plenty of people
00:42 who had mixed emotions about coming home and having to leave family members in Israel.
00:47 This is a little bit of what they had to say.
00:49 We've left a lot of sorrow back there, but we're very relieved to be back in at home
00:54 here in Sydney.
00:55 It's not like you're abandoning in a way.
00:58 And it's been a very difficult decision to leave and come here, but I couldn't stay by
01:04 myself.
01:05 Overnight, another repatriation flight left Tel Aviv and landed in Dubai, carrying 99
01:11 passengers.
01:12 And that was the flight that Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neill was warning yesterday
01:16 would be the last government-assisted flight for the foreseeable future.
01:21 We also know that four Australians have been assisted out of the West Bank and into Jordan.
01:26 The Foreign Minister Penny Wong thanking Canada and New Zealand for their help with that transfer.
01:31 But the situation remains uncertain for those 46 Australians still in Gaza.
01:37 The government says that they are in close contact with those Australians to try to formulate
01:41 a plan to get them out.
01:43 [BLANK_AUDIO]