UK Foreign Secy James Cleverly runs for cover amid rocket fire during Israel visit
Oct 11, 2023
Tel Aviv [Israel], October 11 : UK's Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Wednesday was forced to run for cover amid rocket fire during a visit to southern Israel, Sky News reported.
Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation.
A video showed James Cleverly and a group running into a building as air sirens blared in Ofakim.
Cleverly was seen running towards the entrance at the start of the clip. The Israeli foreign ministry said the siren was warning citizens of incoming Hamas rocket fire.
The UK Foreign Secretary arrived in Israel this morning as part of a trip to "demonstrate the UK's unwavering solidarity" with the country, a foreign office spokesman said earlier today.
Cleverly on Wednesday said the UK stands with Israel. "I'm here in Israel today to show that the UK's support for the Israeli people is unwavering," he wrote on 'X'.
Meanwhile, all of Northern Israel has been ordered to take shelter in safe houses/bunkers amid drone infiltration, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Red alerts and sirens blared as hostile aircraft entered Tiberias, Beit Shean, Tzfat and northern Israeli communities.
Incoming drone alerts are continuing to sound in northern Israel, as per The Times of Israel.
The sirens are sounding in every town and city in the north, including the Golan Heights. Early reports suggest dozens of drones were launched from Lebanon at Israel.
The military says it is looking into the details.
The head of the Galil Elyon Regional Council, Giora Zaltz, tells Channel 12 news some of the aircraft that infiltrated from Lebanon are carrying people, and residents need to seek shelter.
"This is what we feared, what we were preparing for," he said as per The Times of Israel.
The Israel Defence Force (IDF) spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus on Wednesday said that 1200 Israelis were killed and more than 2,700 wounded and emphasised that the Israeli soldiers are ready to execute the mission in Gaza.
"Four days after Hamas breached into Israel, attacked Israeli communities, murdered and massacred Israeli citizens and took dozens of Israeli hostages into Gaza. The death toll is staggering, a 1200 dead Israelis. The overwhelming majority of them civilians and more than 2700 wounded and sadly something tells me that these are not final numbers," he said.
The IDF spokesperson said that about 300000 soldiers had been deployed at the Gaza border and claimed that they would ensure that Hamas would not have any military capabilities at the end of the war.
In a live video posted on X, Lieutenant Colonel Conricus added, "We have sent our inventory, armoured soldiers, our artillery cores and many other soldiers from the reserves. 300000 in numbers in different brigades and divisions and they are now close to the Gaza strip getting ready to execute the mission that the Israeli government and that is to make sure that Hamas at the end of the war won't have any military capabilities by which they can threaten or kill Israeli citizens."
As part of the ongoing counter-offensive against Hamas, dozens of Israeli Air Force fighters struck over 200 targets in the Al-Furqan neighbourhood.
In a post shared on X, IDF stated, "Dozens of Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck over 200 targets in the Al-Furqan neighbourhood--a terrorist hotspot from which Hamas devises and executes their attacks. This is the 3rd counterstrike in the area during the last 24 hours, in which 450 targets were struck."