Thousands of Nigerian Christians who are in Israel for this year’s pilgrimage have been ordered to remain hunkered down in their hotel rooms as Israel and the United states of America launch attacks on Iran.
According to one of the pilgrims who spoke with whitewatersdigest.com, the pilgrims were already on their way to sites in Jericho when they received messages on their telephones and through their tour guides that they should return to their hotel rooms immediately.
The messages were conveyed to them when the United States of America and Israel launched coordinated attacks on Iran on Saturday morning.
According to one of the Pilgrims who spoke with thus medium, “we came out this morning to go to Jericho but along the way we began to receive alerts on our phones so the tour guide asked us to return so we returned to the hotel. the streets are empty, understandably because today is Sabbath. We are in Bethlehem, the Palestinian side of it. When we were coming back, we had some delays because the people were rushing to buy fuel since they knew about air strike. there was panic buying at the fuel stations so the roads were blocked. We were able to go to some places within Bethlehem but we are back to the hotel. The streets are empty and there is few vehicular movement. I am not sure we are going out any time soon. There is no panic amongst the people, apparently because they are used to it. I believe that we are safe and we pray that there is de-escalation soon”.
The attack on Iran by Israel and the United states of America elicited a strong reaction from Iran with a barrage of missiles targeting Israel and United states interest accross the middle east.
According to https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article, a total of 125 missiles were fired against Israel by Iran during their first barrage, with 35 entering Israeli airspace and the rest being intercepted earlier. As a result, sirens sounded in central and northern Israel.
A missile impacted in northern Israel, a Magen David Adom source told Walla, with no injuries being reported.
According to Fire and Rescue, missile shrapnel impacted on a 20-storey building and penetrated into the 17th floor.
Heavy rocket barrages were launched into northern Israel and the Golan Heights on Saturday morning, as Iran continues launching a salvo of attacks on Israel. Sirens have sounded intermittently throughout Saturday morning.
Other MDA teams were dispatched earlier to treat several individuals who were injured on their way to protected areas, as well as people suffering from anxiety.
Some of the missiles fired at Israel on Saturday morning were launched from Lebanon, a military source said.
The IDF denied the source’s claim.