Israel-Hamas war: Russia advises citizens against travelling to Israel, 2 other countries

Russia on Friday (Oct 20) advised its citizens against travelling to Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestinian territories amid the intensifying conflict between Israel and Hamas. Russia's foreign ministry said, "The situation in the Middle East is heating up. The number of casualties and injuries is rising. Mass protests are taking place around the world."

"We strongly recommend that Russian citizens refrain from travelling to the region, especially to Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinian territories," the ministry added.
This development in Russia a day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that there was a serious possibility that the Israel-Hamas war would become regional.

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"A real mechanism (of de-escalation in the Middle East) could be a decision by the (UN) Security Council calling on all parties to immediately stop any violent military actions and ensure a solution to humanitarian problems, taking into account the true catastrophe that threatens the Gaza Strip and the millions of people living there," Foreign Minister Lavrov told reporters in North Korea's Pyongyang.

"As for the Gaza Strip, the risk of this crisis escalating into a regional conflict is quite serious. I have already mentioned that the United States vetoed a resolution that called for a stop to any hostilities and to begin to resolve humanitarian issues," he added.

Lavrov also said that the US apparently showed that it was not ready for a truce, a ceasefire. "And if this is so, then they will probably believe the conflict may grow," the foreign minister further said.

Since Hamas launched an unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7, scores of foreigners have been killed, wounded or taken hostage. According to a report by the news agency AFP, the Russian embassy in Israel said that Nineteen Russian-Israeli citizens have been confirmed dead.

Two Russian-Israeli citizens are hostages and seven Russian nationals are missing, the embassy added.

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