The Russian Embassy in Israel recommended Russians not to visit the country

The Russian Embassy in Israel has reminded Russians of the recommendation to refrain from visiting the country unless absolutely necessary, which has been in effect since October 2023. This was stated by Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov on September 24 on air of the Rossiya-24 TV channel (VGTRK).

"I repeat the recommendation that the Russian Foreign Ministry published back in October last year, all its provisions remain in force," the diplomat said.

Viktorov clarified that the embassy does not prohibit visits to Israel, but we urge a balanced approach to them, only in case of emergency.

"The situation is really not conducive to visiting both Israel and neighboring countries in mass now," he concluded.

In turn, the Russian Embassy in Beirut warned Russians against visiting Lebanon. At the same time, fellow citizens were reminded that the airport is still functioning in Lebanon and everyone has the opportunity to leave the country.

The day before, the Israel Defense Forces launched massive strikes on the facilities of the Shiite movement "Hezbollah" in Lebanon. One of them was struck in Beirut. The Israeli General Staff indicated that the country was conducting a pre-emptive operation to destroy the infrastructure of the Shiite organization. Earlier it was reported that as a result of Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed at least 492 people.

Before that, on September 17 and 18, two waves of explosions of pagers and other communication devices of Hezbollah members took place in Lebanon. It was reported that at least 37 people were killed then, about 3 thousand people were injured. The country's authorities and representatives of the Shiite movement blamed Israel for the incident.

The situation in the Middle East escalated in the morning of October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian radical movement Hamas subjected the territory of Israel to massive rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, invaded the border areas in the south of the country and seized hostages. On the same day, Israel began retaliatory strikes.