As part of a plan to repatriate Israelis stranded abroad at the start of the joint U.S.-Israel military campaign against Iran, hundreds of Israelis landed in Ben Gurion Airport Monday in the first flights of the government’s repatriation effort.

Two flights from flydubai brought a total of 604 passengers back home from Dubai, with another flight from an unspecified airline bringing another 121 passengers from Dubai via Athens.

The flights faced “significant delays resulting from the operational complexity of operating flights under current conditions,” the Transportation Ministry said. The repatriation effort aims to return to Israel thousands of Israelis stuck in the United Arab Emirates, a plan that paused over the weekend as airports in the UAE were pounded by Iranian missile strikes and drone attacks.

In addition, the following flights brought Israelis back since Sunday:

• Israir operated three flights bringing 730 passengers to Jordan, where the airline helped facilitate the border crossing for all of its passengers.
• Arkia brought 500 Israelis back via Egypt and Jordan, where Israelis crossed the border into Israel.

Thus far, since the reopening of Ben Gurion Airport, about 24,000 Israelis have returned to Israel.