Swiss foreign ministry advises against travel to Israel and Iran

The foreign ministry in Bern advises against travel to Israel and Iran Keystone-SDA

The foreign ministry in Bern has advised against traveling to Israel and Iran. Following the assassination of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders in Beirut, Gaza and Tehran, presumably as a result of Israeli actions, Iran's leadership announced a harsh response.

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“Tourist and other non-urgent travel to Israel is not recommended. Travel to individual parts of the country is generally not recommended. The risk of escalation has increased further,” the foreign ministry tweeted on Friday evening.

This is not the first travel warning issued by the foreign ministry for Israel. The development of the situation is uncertain and a further deterioration in the security situation is possible at any time, and the risk of escalation has increased further, it said back in April following a large-scale rocket attack from Iran.

+ SWISS suspends Zurich-Tel Aviv flights amid Middle East tensions

Following the targeted killing of the political leader of the Palestinian terrorist organisation Hamas, Ismail Haniya, mass anti-Israeli and anti-Western protests broke out in the capital Tehran on Wednesday night.

+ Swiss foreign ministry wary of possible Middle East escalation

However, the violence in the Middle East originally escalated after the attack by Hamas and other militant groups on Israeli villages from the Gaza Strip on October 7 last year and the subsequent massacre by these terrorists of Jews with around 1,200 fatalities, numerous rapes and kidnappings.

The Israeli army responded with an ongoing counter-attack on Gaza with no regard for the civilian population, which according to UN figures has so far led to the deaths of almost 40,000 Palestinians, most of them presumably civilians.

However, Hamas is still holding around 100 Israeli civilians hostage in the Gaza Strip.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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