A shaken Hofit Golan has revealed she is hiding in the bath after witnessing the terrifying moment an Iranian missile hit Dubai’s famous Palm Jumeirah hotel.
The missile struck the five-star hotel on Saturday as Tehran launched widespread revenge attacks across the Middle East following US airstrikes.
Israeli influencer Hofit, 40, is among the celebrities and influencers currently fearing for their safety in the UAE.
Hofit recalled: ‘I heard loud explosions and I thought “I can’t believe it I am in the safest city in the world and I can’t believe this is happening”.
‘Of course I am frightened. It is a natural reaction. The UAE is supposed to be one of the safest places.
‘You see it (explosions) in front of your balcony. You see fireworks usually but that’s a different kind of lighting of the skies.
A shaken Hofit Golan has revealed she is hiding in the bath after witnessing the terrifying moment rockets and explosions hit Dubai’s famous Palm Jumeirah hotel
An Iranian missile hit the five star hotel on Saturday as Tehran launched widespread revenge attacks across the Middle East following US airstrikes
‘So, in the back of your head it is like what is going to happen at night? Are we all going to be able to sleep?
‘You kind of black out a little bit. I haven’t caught my breath yet. I feel a bit shocked, a little overwhelmed and exhausted.
‘They (The UAE) are successfully intercepting the missiles and doing their job well, but of course it is a human natural emotion to be like “oh gosh oh my god”, that is where I am at.
‘I did not see anyone get hurt or hear shouting. I can’t think straight. I am just processing the emotions. It’s kind of surreal.
‘We have been getting reports that they are shutting down the tourist places and we’re being told to stay indoors and stay away from windows,’ she added.
Missiles fired by Tehran have struck US military bases in Qatar and have also rained down on Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Bahrain and Israel.
Videos posted on social media show Dubai’s iconic Palm Jumeirah ablaze after it was hit in an Iranian suicide drone attack.
Hofit filmed Dubai’s iconic Palm Jumeirah ablaze after it was hit by a suspected Iranian missile or missile debris
Brave Hofit chose to evacuate by her own choice from her home on a private beach on the Palm, to a place of safety and showed on her Instagram the traffic as people fled
Meanwhile, Donald Trump announced Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead on Saturday evening.
In a post on Truth Social, he said: ‘Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead. This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS.
‘He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do.’
Officials had earlier reported the strikes had caused ‘very significant harm’ to the leadership of the Iranian regime and its military commanders.
Brave Hofit chose to evacuate by her own choice from her home on a private beach on the Palm, to a place of safety and hoped to reassure others stuck in the UAE.
She continued: ‘It is pretty safe. I think they were prepared for it. It is more the debris and people need to know what to do.
‘There is a lot of good advice being given like if you see debris, you need to go inside and need two three minutes because debris takes time to go down and most people get injured from the debris.
‘I’ve not seen panic just traffic. There is traffic in Dubai all the time so I don’t know if the traffic is Dubai traffic or people trying to leave.’
Hofit said she has decided to travel to a friend house, who lives more inland.
She added: ‘I am just trying to round up international friends and bring them to our villa and take them out of their sky scrapers.
‘In terms of people on the streets it’s orderly. I don’t even know when we can leave (Dubai), so I am just trying to wrap my head around the situation.
‘It is a work in progress you know. But I am grateful to the UAE because the explosions we are seeing are intercepted missiles so I’d rather them intercept them in the sky then hit us.
The fashion model had been sat on a British Airways flight bound for London Heathrow when they were given notification the flight would not be leaving and passengers would have to disembark the plane.
Praising Dubai airport staff, Hofit said: ‘I was very impressed at the way they handled evacuating the airport and they were really accommodating. It was really efficient and I was very impressed as I thought I would be stuck – like when it snows one drop in Heathrow the whole country closes for a week. They are organised here and they are on it.
‘It has been very orderly. As soon as I got out the airport reports began coming through of people hearing explosions all over the city.
‘Everything at the airport was handled very well they got our luggage off everything was good and as I was driving home we are hearing reports.’
Hofit said she doesn’t know yet when travellers will be allowed to leave.
‘I don’t think I am going to go anywhere soon. My friends are like we can drive to Oman or Egypt so some friends are trying to find other ways to travel out of the region.
‘I think whatever is happening in Dubai is going to happen all around it is the whole region and air space has shut down. I am just taking it hour by hour and following the safety information.
‘I am just one person in a city right now. I think about other people, but it is going to be okay.’
