Russia Foreign Ministry warns against travelling to Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday advised against travelling to Israel, Lebanon and Jordan, stating: “The situation in the Middle East is heating up,” amid regional tensions since 7 October.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that it is working closely with the Egyptian and Israeli authorities so that the Russians in the Gaza Strip can leave.

It warned: “We strongly recommend that Russian citizens refrain from travelling to the region, especially to Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinian territories.”

A large number of Russians reside in Israel and about 6,000 Russians have travelled from Tel Aviv to Russia since 9 October, according to the same source.

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Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov told Russia’s Izvestia newspaper on Friday that Moscow is in contact with representatives of the Hamas movement in order to remove the hostages from their location.

According to the latest toll presented by the Russian authorities on Thursday, 19 Russian citizens were killed in Israel since the operation launched by the Hamas movement against Israel on 7 October, while seven are still missing. There are two Russians among the hostages in the Gaza Strip.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his concern several times in recent days that the conflict between Israel and Hamas would turn into a “regional war” since the crisis resulted from the “failure” of Washington’s policy in the Middle East.

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