Posted by 
The first repatriation flight of Australians from Israel has landed in London just before 7am Sydney time, with a second due to take off on Sunday.
The flight was due to depart Ben Gurion Airport at 4.25pm local time (12.25am+1 AEDT) and land in London (Heathrow) at 7.45pm local time (5.45am+1 AEDT) but it was delayed by just over an hour.
A second Qantas 236-seater Boeing 787 Dreamliner will leave Tel Aviv on route to London on Sunday.
READ MORE: Nazi salutes allegedly performed at Jewish site
Then on Tuesday, a Qantas Airbus A380 will depart London (via Singapore) and land in Sydney on Wednesday afternoon, offering 484 seats to Australian-Israeli refugees for free.
All Israelis will be provided with accommodation in London while they wait for the Tuesday flight back to Australia.
It comes as Israel's military directed the evacuation of northern Gaza, a region that is home to 1.1 million people, within 24 hours on Friday.
The order could signal an impending ground offensive, though the Israeli military has not yet confirmed such a plan.
READ MORE: Last-minute bid to stop Voice referendum fails
"The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is coordinating registration for Australians travelling on all three flights," Qantas said in a statement.
Qantas said 900 crew offered to help with the flights, which far exceeded the required amount of 70 people required.
"We sincerely thank all of them, and all those working behind the scenes to make these special assistance flights possible," Qantas said.
"The sudden nature of these rescue flights will mean disruption for some customers on our international network, and the airline is contacting those customers directly.
"We're working to minimise the impact as much as possible and appreciate their understanding."
Yesterday Foreign Minister Penny Wong urged Australians in Israel to contact the Department of Foreign Affairs to get on one of the flights.
She said the government was working on organising a third flight out of Tel Aviv.
For urgent consular assistance, Australians should continue to call the Australian Government's 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on +61 2 6261 3305 (from overseas) or 1300 555 135 (from within Australia).
