A note to the readers: Mark Orwoll was on assignment in Jerusalem when the United States and Israel attacked Iran in the early hours of Saturday, February 28. Here's what happened next. He got this report to us in the early hours of Sunday, March 1. We don't know where he is now.

BY MARK ORWOLL -- The first alert from Israel's Home Front Command went out across the nation at 8:13 a.m. local time on Saturday.

"Due to the current security situations, make sure you know what is the optimal protected space near you. Install the Home Front Command app and avoid unnecessary travel. Continue to follow the guidelines and get your information from official sources only."

Most homes here have safe rooms, often a bedroom with heavy-pane glass windows. The hotels are supposed to have protected areas, away from windows, on every floor.

The next alert was pushed out to app users in Jerusalem at 10:06 a.m. local time.

"In the next few minutes, alerts are expected in your area. You need to find a better location that will provide the best protection in your area. If an alert is received, enter the protected space and stay there until further notice."

At 10:38 a.m. local time, the app sent this alarming message, which I received during a late breakfast at the Orient Hotel near Jerusalem's Old City.

"Rocket and Missile Fire-Jerusalem South. Time to arrival to the protected room—one and a half minutes. Enter the protected space."

Shortly, explosions could be heard outside the hotel, but whether they were caused by ordnance finding their targets or by Israel's Iron Dome shooting down incoming missiles wasn't immediately clear.

Inside the hotel, the guests in the dining room made their way to an employee break room in a sub-basement. Among them was a wedding party. The partygoers sang songs and, from a large bottle of vodka on ice, shared shots with me when they learned I was American.

Outside, on the streets, few cars could be seen, along with a handful of pedestrians hurrying down the sidewalks. I heard numerous sirens in the distance, but couldn't determine if they were police, fire or military vehicles.

The country's airspace was closed to all civilian aircraft after the first incoming rockets were identified. El Al, the national carrier, naturally ceased operations and canceled all flights. I received this email from El Al regarding my scheduled flight to New York/Kennedy at 7:33 p.m.

My travel agent offered to rebook me on a return flight from Amman, Jordan, for that same night. That option turned out to be impossible, but I didn't learn if that was because the flights were already sold out or Jordanian airspace was also closed. Jordan, I understand, was targeted by incoming missiles and rockets.

My travel advisor then suggested another option: a flight from Sharm El Sheikh at the southern end of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. I managed to get a booking on Turkish Airlines to Istanbul for Sunday morning.

Over a goodbye Hendrick's gin martini in the Orient's lobby bar, I got into a conversation with an investment advisor from Tel Aviv. He and his family had driven to Jerusalem because they thought it would be safer. He advised me not to drive to Sharm. I asked why.

"Because you'll be a target," he said. "It wouldn't be safe"

I decided to take the risk anyway.

My driver took me from Jerusalem to the Egyptian border at Taba. Along the way, he received an alert that I did not receive. He immediately pulled to the side of the near-empty highway that paralleled the west bank of the Dead Sea.

"Out! Out!" he said urgently. (Safety protocols suggest abandoning your car if incoming rockets are expected.)

A minute later he received an all-clear message and we continued to the border, some three hours away, without further incident.

At Taba, I said goodbye to my driver and cleared customs and immigration at the adjacent border posts for Israel and Egypt.

Outside Egyptian customs, I met my second driver. He'd take me to Sharm El Sheikh International Airport, about 2.5 hours farther south. Nothing untoward happened on that drive apart from the driver's predilection for texting while driving, smoking cigarettes incessantly and blaring Arabic techno at high volume.

Passengers at Sharm can't clear security until three hours before departure. I'd arrived at the airport at just past 1am. My flight was scheduled for 11:45am. That meant I would have to remain on the street side of the terminal for the next seven hours or so.

The only café was closed for the night.

ABOUT MARK ORWOLL
Mark Orwoll is a veteran journalist, the former International Editor of Travel + Leisure and the author of four books, including a new travel memoir, Just One Little Hitch. His weekly Substack column is carried by JoeSentMe.com.