One of the many buildings destroyed after Israel's airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday (Photo: AFP/VNA)

On Wednesday, about 190 South Korean nationals arrived at Incheon International Airport after visiting Israel on a short-term basis. This is the first flight to transport South Koreans back home from the Gaza Strip, Israel, and some other Middle Eastern countries since the Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israel last Saturday.

Other countries are rushing to do the same. Spain has sent two cargo military aircrafts to Israel to evacuate some 500 Spaniards whose commercial flights were suspended following the attacks, Acting Defense Minister Margarita Robles said on Tuesday.

Earlier, Portugal said it will evacuate 190 of its citizens in Israel on air force planes to Cyprus. Mexico, Canada, Denmark, and Sweden all planned to evacuate their citizens from Israel and Palestinian territories.

Countries far away from Israel announced that they will establish air bridges from Israel to neighboring countries. Argentina on Wednesday said it sent a Hercules C-130 military airplane to evacuate more than 700 Argentinians in Israel to Rome.

In Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday announced an evacuation plan for Australians in Israel to London, which will begin on Friday.

He said: "There will be two flights to begin with, and we are working on additional options. We are assessing all options to get Australians home as soon as possible, who wish to travel back here." 

Most commercial flights to Israel have been cancelled since the conflict broke out. The Israeli Government has announced flights to repatriate its own citizens from other countries to avoid security risks and bring back its military reserve forces from overseas for a counter-attack against Hamas.