El Centro church group stuck in Israel
IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA) - A group of 33 people from the Christ Community Church in the Imperial Valley, who are on a biblical trip to Israel, are safe Monday night after joint U.S. and Israeli military strikes inside Iran.
The strikes are part of an escalating regional conflict, and triggered security alerts across countries in the Middle East and the U.K.
The senior pastor of the church, Walter Colace, tells KYMA that the church members were huddles in a basement bunker, where they took shelter.
All members of the group are safe. He said the first sirens rang out and the hotel guests were told it was a drill. Then, the second siren blared.
"That's when we moved down to the safe place again, and that's when we found out that Israel had preemptively struck Iran," Pastor Colace shared.
Following the missile strikes, news broke that Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been eliminated by the United States Armed Forces. The news was confirmed by President Donald Trump and by authorities in Iran.
That is when the church group's plans to return home to El Centro changed.
"We had anticipated flying out. Israel struck early from what we understand, ahead of schedule because Ayatollah had his head commanders of the military in his compound," Colace expressed.
The group is moved in and out of the basement bunkers multiple times a day. Colace said sometimes it is for a few minutes, and other times for a half hour or more.
Tehran responded, firing retaliatory missiles on Jordan, Qatar, Dubai, and other Arab Gulf states.
Due to the ongoing conflict, the air space in Jerusalem remains closed.
"We don't know what we're doing now. We don't know when our flight is going to, when air space is going to open up in Tel Aviv," Colace remarked.
For now, the group's departure is uncertain as officials continue to monitor the situation and security alerts.
"There could be a dramatic change now in the Middle East in light of the events that took place over the last couple of days," Colace added.
