Canada raises travel advisory for Israel to ‘avoid all travel’ due to escalating violence

Global Affairs Canada on Saturday urged Canadians to avoid all travel to Israel due to “the ongoing regional armed conflict and the unpredictable security situation.”

The department’s previous travel advisory for Israel only urged against non-essential travel.

The advisory now reads: “Avoid all travel due to the ongoing regional armed conflict and the unpredictable security situation. The security situation can deteriorate further without warning.”

Fears of a wider regional conflict and all-out war between Israel and Iran have grown in the wake of recent actions between Israel and Hezbollah, a militant group based in neighbouring Lebanon and backed by the Iranian regime. Hezbollah is also allied with Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.

Tensions grew after a Hezbollah commander was killed by an Israel airstrike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut on July 30. Israel alleges that the commander, Fuad Shukr, was behind a rocket strike three days earlier that killed 12 young people on a soccer field in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Hezbollah has denied the allegation.

WATCH | Fears of all-out Middle East war:

Fears of all-out Middle East war: How we got here

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Just hours after Shukr’s killing, the conflict spiralled further, this time in the heart of Iran itself. Ismail Haniyeh, the prominent political leader of Hamas, was killed in a targeted airstrike in the capital Tehran. Like Hezbollah, Hamas is also backed by Iran, which blamed Israel for the assassination. Israel refused to comment on it, but after the Oct. 7 attacks on southern Israel, the country said it would target Hamas leaders no matter where they were.

Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire along the border since that day last year, when Hamas and other Palestinian militants led the attack into southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw some 250 others taken into Hamas-controlled Gaza, according to Israeli officials.

Israel’s subsequent siege of Gaza has killed more than 39,550 people, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.

Hezbollah has vowed keep launching rockets at Israel until the latter ceases operations in Gaza.

“If the armed conflict intensifies, it could impact your ability to depart by commercial means. It may result in travel disruptions, including airspace closures and flight cancellations and diversions,” Global Affairs Canada said.

The department has previously urged Canadians to avoid all travel to Lebanon for the same reasons.