Israel calls for easing of travel restrictions

Following what officials described as a "dramatic" decrease in threat levels, Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has appealed to foreign governments to consider "fine-tuning" their travel restrictions to the country.

- By JANVIC MATEO

JERUSALEM - Following what officials described as a "dramatic" decrease in threat levels, Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has appealed to foreign governments to consider "fine-tuning" their travel restrictions to the country.

"I am not saying (that they) immediately delete from scratch all the travel warnings. But we are appealing... to all of our friends to at least fine-tune the travel warnings," Aviv Ezra, MFA's deputy director general for Asia and the Pacific, told journalists at a media briefing here earlier this week.

"I can prove it to all these countries that the level of threat has decreased dramatically... The threat coming from the Gaza Strip is eliminated almost to zero. The threat coming from the north is also diminished in a dramatic manner," he added.

Ezra said he understands countries that had to impose travel restrictions to Israel following Oct. 7, 2023, when militant group Hamas launched a coordinated attack from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel.