Booker was in Israel when Hamas attack began

Senator Cory Booker was in Israel when attacks from the Palestinian militant group Hamas began, but has safely returned to the United States, his office announced yesterday.

“On Friday, October 6, Senator Booker arrived in Israel for several days of planned meetings and site visits ahead of the start of an Abraham Accords-focused N7 summit on regional economic integration in Tel Aviv, at which he was scheduled to speak on Tuesday,” Booker spokesperson Maya Krishna-Rogers said yesterday in a statement. “Senator Booker and accompanying staff were in Jerusalem when Hamas launched their attacks against Israel on Saturday, and sheltered in place for their safety. We are grateful that Senator Booker and our colleagues were able to safely depart Israel earlier today.”

Booker, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wasn’t the only member of Congress in Israel at the time of the attack. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-New York), who represents lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, was in the country with his family to attend a bat mitzvah and has also returned safely.

The attacks have already brought about a huge number of casualties on both sides; according to the New York Times, at least 700 people in Israel and 560 in Palestine have been killed, with many more wounded or taken hostage. Among those killed were nine American citizens, and more Americans remain missing.

Booker, like most other New Jersey politicians, has forcefully condemned Hamas’s attack and said that he stands with Israel, a key U.S. ally.

“I emphatically condemn Hamas’ horrific acts of violence, kidnapping and terror targeting Israeli families, children and other civilians in towns and cities across the nation of Israel,” he said in a statement on Saturday. “I stand with the people of Israel and the families of those who have lost loved ones.”