Due to the recent Hamas attack on Israel from Gaza, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is taking steps to tighten travel advisories for Israel and Palestine, acknowledging the worsening security conditions in the region.
In a recent statement, the Ministry strongly discouraged non-essential travel to Southern Israel, Gaza, and areas in the occupied West Bank that are currently witnessing an increase in violence.
The same authority said that this caution is due to the unstable security situation in these regions, which includes the potential for civil unrest and terrorist activities, making travel unpredictable and potentially dangerous.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises against travel that is not strictly necessary to the rest of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
According to the Ministry, Norwegian citizens planning essential trips to Israel or the Palestinian territories can register their journey through the Ministry’s Information Service. This registration ensures that the Norwegian embassy or mission knows its presence in the region.
Considering the situation in Israel, Norway increased its travel advice for the neighbouring country, Lebanon. A code orange status has been applied to the region south of the capital, Beirut, extending to the border with Israel.
Low-cost airline Transavia has taken a precautionary measure in response to the current situation in Israel by cancelling this Saturday’s flight to Tel Aviv. The same has announced that the flights scheduled to depart to/from Tel Aviv have been cancelled, including Amsterdam to Tel Aviv and Tel Aviv to Amsterdam. In addition, the airline said that so far, the status of flights from October 10 onwards remains unclear but that an update will be provided on the site around 17:00 this afternoon.
In addition, KLM has cancelled its flight to Tel Aviv scheduled for Sunday evening, as reported by the airline on Saturday. Similarly, easyJet has cancelled a Sunday morning flight to Tel Aviv. However, two flights operated by Israeli airline El Al on Sunday are currently scheduled to continue as scheduled, pending further updates.
In October last year, Norway also issued a travel advisory to its citizens to avoid travelling to the Nablus and Jenin regions in the West Bank.
In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasised that the security situation in the northern parts of the West Bank has been characterised by instability for an extended period of time.
