LONDON: Britons in Tel Aviv have recounted the “frightening” ordeal of sheltering from missile attacks after Israel faced days of deadly Iranian salvos.

In comments to The Times newspaper, three Brits stranded in the country demanded that the UK government organize urgent repatriation flights.

Zach Margolin, a 31-year-old online comedian, said on Sunday: “It’s really frightening. We could hear enormous explosions; we could hear the Iron Dome flying up and then the building shaking. Last night was the most I’ve seen, it’s proper explosions.”

He had flown to the Israeli capital on June 4 for his birthday and to produce content for social media.

But after Israel’s June 13 attack on Iran and Tehran’s subsequent retaliation, Margolin is now one of thousands of Brits stranded in the country.

He had booked three flights on June 18, 19 and 20 to give him the best chance of returning home.

On the first night of Iran’s retaliation on Friday, he fled his apartment for safety at 10 p.m., 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. after hearing air raid sirens.

Tehran’s missile forces had launched more than 100 ballistic missiles and drones at the Israeli capital in response to the Israel Defense Forces’ “Operation Rising Lion.”

Margolin said: “You’d be crazy not to be afraid. I’ve been to Israel many times during sirens, and the usual protocol is you go in the shelter, wait 10 minutes and then go out, but this is a different beast.

“It’s not one missile from Yemen or rockets from Gaza, it’s hundreds of ballistic missiles coming from Iran.”

Iran’s retaliatory salvos killed at least 13 people in the first two nights of strikes.

Israel closed its airspace in response, as well as land routes out of the country.

“Ideally the UK government should be putting on a repatriation flight,” Margolin said. “The only update (from the Foreign Office) is don’t go to Israel.”

The Foreign Office later warned that the situation could “deteriorate further, quickly and without warning,” and advised against all travel to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, placing the two on the same level of advice as Iran.

James Eden, a 72-year-old retired accountant, had flown to Israel last week for a Christian pilgrimage.

He told The Times that he was considering escaping the country via bus through the Negev desert, in an attempt to reach Egypt.

“The (Foreign Office) rang me and said there wasn’t a lot they could do,” he added.

“They’re not going to stop me (leaving by land) — but they’re not going to help me get out of Egypt either.”

Posts on social media platforms have advertised opportunities to reach the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh from Israel, in order for Britons to catch safe flights home.

British father-of-two Max Radford, 52, feared that his time in Israel would be “indefinite” as he urged the UK government to move repatriation aircraft to its bases on Cyprus, to prepare for quick evacuation flights from Tel Aviv.

“There is absolutely no question that the British government should be putting on repatriation flights,” he said. “They should know that there are thousands of Brits here that are stranded. They need to do something. There is no airline that can do it.”

Radford added: “I had a very nearby explosion the night before last when I was in Tel Aviv. “You never know what comes next; we’ve no idea about tonight and we really don’t know how long we’re here for. It’s kind of indefinite.”

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy told British nationals in Israel that their safety “remains our top priority.”

He said: “My message to British nationals there is clear: your safety remains our top priority. Follow our travel advice for the latest updates.”

PARIS/JERUSALEM: France shut down the four main Israeli company stands at the Paris Airshow for refusing to remove offensive weapons from display, in a move condemned by Israel and highlighting tensions between the traditional allies.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday that the instruction came from French authorities after Israeli firms failed to comply with a direction from a French security agency to remove offensive or kinetic weapons from the stands.
The stands were those being used by Elbit Systems, Rafael, IAI and Uvision. Three smaller Israeli stands, which didn’t have hardware on display, and an Israeli Ministry of Defense stand, remain open.
France, a long-time Israeli ally, has gradually hardened its position on the government of Benjamin Netanyahu over its actions in Gaza and military interventions abroad.
French President Emmanuel Macron made a distinction last week between Israel’s right to protect itself, which France supports and could take part in, and strikes on Iran it did not recommend.
Israel’s defense ministry said it had categorically rejected the order to remove some weapons systems from displays, and that exhibition organizers responded by erecting a black wall that separated the Israeli industry pavilions from others.
This action, it added, was carried out in the middle of the night after Israeli defense officials and companies had already finished setting up their displays.
“This outrageous and unprecedented decision reeks of policy-driven and commercial considerations,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The French are hiding behind supposedly political considerations to exclude Israeli offensive weapons from an international exhibition — weapons that compete with French industries.”
IAI’s president and CEO, Boaz Levy, said the black partition walls were reminiscent of “the dark days of when Jews were segmented from European society.”
Two US Republican politicians attending the air show also criticized the French move.
Talking to reporters outside the blacked-out Israeli defense stalls, US Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders described the decision as “pretty absurd,” while Republican Senator Katie Britt criticized it as “short-sighted.”
The French prime minister’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.
Meshar Sasson, senior vice president at Elbit Systems, accused France of trying to stymie competition, pointing to a series of contracts that Elbit has won in Europe.
“If you cannot beat them in technology, just hide them right? That’s what it is because there’s no other explanation,” he said.
Rafael described the French move as “unprecedented, unjustified, and politically motivated.”
The air show’s organizer said in a statement that it was in talks to try to help “the various parties find a favorable outcome to the situation.”