Code orange: Dutch Foreign Ministry warns against travel to Israel; flights canceled
Dutch tourists who are in Israel through travel organizations affiliated with the ANVR are currently not in the danger zone. Contact has been made with all these groups of travelers, a spokeswoman for the organization said. At the time of Hamas' attack on Israel, several hundred Dutch people were traveling through the country.
The travel advice for Israel has been updated to orange, meaning it is not safe to travel to the country. This was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday.
The ministry advises people to travel to Israel only for non-tourist, necessary travel, such as visiting family in case of death, serious illness, or accident. Travel advisories for the border region with Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt are red. "Whatever your situation, do not travel there," the ministry warned.
Travel advisories for the Palestinian territories have also been updated. Due to recent Hamas attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip, the color code for the West Bank has changed from yellow to orange. The travel advisory color code for Gaza is now red.
Dutch citizens who need to make a necessary trip to Israel or the Palestinian territories shortly can register through the Ministry's Information Service. In this way, the Dutch embassy or mission will be informed of their presence. In addition, travelers will then be notified by email or text message when travel advisories change and will receive additional information about the safety situation in the event of an emergency or crisis.
In connection with the flared conflict in Israel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has tightened the travel advice for neighboring country Lebanon. Code Orange applies to the area south of the capital Beirut up to the border with Israel.
Traveling to areas with orange or red travel advisories is the responsibility of the traveler, the ministry stressed. The Dutch embassy or mission will likely be less able or unable to provide assistance in the event of potential problems.
Due to the current situation in Israel, the airline Transavia has canceled Saturday's flight to Tel Aviv as a precautionary measure. The next flight is scheduled for Monday. Whether this will work will be decided later.
According to a Transavia spokesperson, the safety situation is being monitored. The advice to travelers who have this flight planned for Monday is to keep an eye on the status of this flight to Israel.
In addition, the KLM flight that was supposed to go to Tel Aviv on Sunday evening has also been canceled, the airline reported on Saturday.
Furthermore, easyJet has canceled a flight that was supposed to go to Tel Aviv on Sunday morning. However, two flights by the Israeli airline El Al on Sunday will continue for the time being.
Reporting by ANP
