The National Security Council said on Saturday that Israel called on its citizens to immediately leave Egypt and Jordan, as regional tensions flared over the war in Gaza.
It said in a statement, “Israel’s National Security Council raises its travel warnings for Egypt (including Sinai) and Jordan to level 4 (high threat): recommendation not to travel to these countries and for those staying there to leave… as soon as possible.”
The recent notice comes just days after Israel recalled its diplomats from Turkey as a security precaution following an earlier request for its citizens to leave as well.
The calls for evacuation came days after protests across the Middle East over Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
The battle ignited after the Palestinian Hamas militants stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip, taking more than 200 hostages and killing at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated, or burnt to death, according to Israeli officials.
Israel has since pledged to destroy Hamas, and a bombing campaign launched in response has demolished entire city blocks in Gaza, so far killing 4,137 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
