What the Bible says about Deportation of Israel
(From Forerunner Commentary)
About 540 BC, the prophet Daniel testified, in a prayer recorded in Daniel 9:7, that the house of Israel had not returned to its homeland. As of that date, they were still "far off." The phrase "those near" refers to the captives of the Kingdom of Judah—of whom Daniel was one—who were interned in and around Babylon. "[T]hose far off in all the countries to which You have driven them" probably refers to the exiles of the Kingdom of Israel. Daniel says Israel still had not returned, as of about 178 years after their deportation in 718 BC. Daniel would not agree that God's punishment of Israel was to last only seven years.
Charles Whitaker
Searching for Israel (Part Seven): Seven Years' Punishment