It’s the most difficult decision this family has ever had to make.

Tal Raymond, Dana Elhadad and their two young children were among the first Australians at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport to prepare for evacuation flights that left Israel on Friday afternoon (local time).

Mr Raymond, an Australian, and Dr Elhadad, an Israeli-American, have decided to split their family up for the sake of safety.

“My wife is an essential worker — she’s a doctor,” he said.

“So she has to serve the country and stay and we have to split up unfortunately.”

Dr Elhadad, an oncologist, is devastated to leave children Arielle, aged one, and Alon, who is four.

“It’s the hardest decision that I’ve ever had to make, sending my family away, but I want to keep them safe,” she said.

“War doesn’t cure cancer. People are still sick here. We have to keep working.”

As an essential worker, she says she’s not allowed to leave the country in a time of war.

The first repatriation flight evacuating Australians out of Israel has left Tel Aviv, bound for London.

Most airlines have cancelled commercial flights to the city since the Israel-Gaza war broke out last weekend, and leaving has been difficult.

Among the 220 passengers on board the Qantas plane was Australian woman Ronit Levi, who was in Israel on a holiday.

“When I heard that they [the Israeli Defense Forces] was going to get into Gaza and attack Gaza, I looked for a ticket as soon as I could to arrive in Melbourne,” she said.

“My sons were calling me every day and saying ‘Mum, go back to Australia, it’s not safe’.

“I got the ticket yesterday, packed quickly and came to the airport.”

The flight is due to land in London early on Saturday morning (Australian time), and the passengers will then be offered further flights on to Sydney via Singapore. 

It was the first of several planned repatriation flights evacuating Australians out of the country as the Israel-Gaza war escalates.

Qantas will also facilitate a second flight out in the coming days, while two charter flights will depart Israel to Dubai.

The free repatriation flights are available to Australian citizens who have been unable to book commercial tickets. 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said Qantas is working closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

Mr Albanese told the ABC on Friday that there were 19 Australians in Gaza trying to get out.

Israel warns Gaza residents to evacuate ahead of ground offensive

Israel’s Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed on Friday that it had called on civilians in Gaza City, the home of more than 1 million people, to evacuate to the south by midnight local time (8am Saturday AEDT).

“Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields,” the IDF said in a statement on Telegram. 

The Israeli military said it would operate “significantly” in Gaza City in the coming days and civilians should only return when advised.

Gaza’s health ministry says more than 1,500 Palestinians have already been killed in retaliatory attacks since Hamas launched an offensive on Israeli cities near the Gaza border last Saturday.

A Hamas official said the Gaza relocation warning was “fake propaganda” by Israel and urged citizens not to fall for it.

The United Nations said it was impossible for such a movement of people to take place “without devastating humanitarian consequences”.

The warning has prompted a chaotic scramble on the ground, where many Palestinians have already been displaced from their homes under a barrage of air strikes.

“This is chaos, no one understands what to do,” said Inas Hamdan, an officer at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza City.

The UN has relocated its Gaza headquarters and international staff to the south.

A woman working with the Palestinian Red Crescent, Farsakh, said there was no way so many people could be safely moved — especially elderly, disabled and injured patients. 

“What will happen to our patients? We have wounded, we have elderly, we have children who are in hospitals,” she said.

Farsakh said many of the medics were refusing to evacuate hospitals and abandon patients. Instead, she said, they called their colleagues to say goodbye.

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ABC/wires