Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe. Photo: David Brazier via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Jewish community leaders in Zimbabwe have instructed Jews residing in the African country to seek shelter indoors amid a developing military coup, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe’s army said it has taken over the country’s capital of Harare, detained longtime President Robert Mugabe and his wife, and seized control of a state-run broadcaster.

According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, 170 Jews and Israeli citizens currently live in Zimbabwe, with 108 residing in Harare and 64 in the city of Bulawayo.

Israel’s Ambassador to South Africa Lior Keinan is in direct communication with the Jewish community in Zimbabwe as the situation unfolds.

Although Israel and Zimbabwe have had diplomatic relations since 1993, ties between the countries are fraught with tension. Zimbabwe’s state-run media routinely condemns the Jewish state, and the nations do not have mutual ambassadors.

Zimbabwe’s government also officially recognizes an independent Palestinian state, and lent diplomatic support to former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.