British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen ran for shelter in southern Israel as sirens went off Wednesday.
The two politicians — alongside many other people — ran to take shelter, as seen in a video reposted by Israel’s foreign ministry on X, formerly Twitter. According to former diplomat David Saranga, who originally posted the video, Cleverly and Cohen were visiting the town of Ofakim in Israel when “a siren goes off warning of incoming Hamas rocket fire.”
Ofakim, located about 25 kilometers away from Gaza, was one of the sites where hostages were taken during the deadly Hamas attack on Israel on Saturday, the Times of Israel reported.
“I’m here in Israel today to show that the UK’s support for the Israeli people is unwavering,” Cleverly said on X before the video was published.
Prior to the attack, a spokesperson from the UK’s Foreign Office announced that “the Foreign Secretary has arrived in Israel today to demonstrate the UK’s unwavering solidarity with the Israeli people following Hamas’ terrorist attacks. He will be meeting survivors of the attacks and senior Israeli leaders to outline UK support for Israel’s right to defend itself.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is also on his way to the region, Sky News reported.
