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Travel Warning This Travel Warning is being issued to update information on the general security environment in Israel, Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, and to reiterate threats to American citizens and U.S. interests in those respective locations. Hizbollah continues to launch numerous rocket attacks into Israel, which have resulted in fatalities and injuries to civilians. This is a volatile and extremely dangerous situation. Overall conditions of lawlessness prevail in the Gaza Strip, Israeli military operations continue, and areas of violent conflict shift rapidly and unpredictably. This warning supersedes the Travel Warning issued February 27, 2006. Violence between the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and militant groups based in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank can flare up without notice in the form of rocket attacks into Israel. The uncertain security conditions within the West Bank and Gaza continue as well, with the potential for violent protests, kidnappings, including of foreign nationals, and fighting between various armed factions. Daily inter-Palestinian violence in the Gaza Strip has spread to the West Bank. The Department of State urges U.S. citizens to weigh carefully the risk of travel to Israel and Jerusalem at this time and to defer travel to affected parts of Israel (missile attacks have focused on the area north of an east-west line from the coastal city of Haifa to Tiberius on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, including those cities, and on Sderot and Ashkelon in the south). In addition, the Department of State urges U.S. citizens to defer travel to the West Bank and to avoid all travel to the Gaza Strip. U.S. government personnel are currently prohibited from all travel in Gaza. For safety and security reasons, U.S. Government American personnel and dependents are prohibited from traveling to any cities, towns or settlements in the West Bank, except for mission-essential business or other approved purposes. For limited, personal travel, U.S. government personnel and family members are permitted to travel through the West Bank, using only Routes 1 and 90, to reach the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge or the Dead Sea coast near Ein Gedi and Masada. Each such transit requires prior notification to the Consulate General’s security office and must occur during daylight hours. U.S. Government personnel and family members are permitted personal travel on Route 443 between Modi’in and Jerusalem during daylight hours only. Travel to the Gaza Strip by U.S. Government personnel is prohibited. Under policy guidance issued by the Secretary of State, exceptions to the prohibition on Gaza travel are only for official, mission-critical travel. Private American citizens also should avoid travel to these areas. U.S. government personnel are prohibited from using all public transportation. The Old City of Jerusalem is off-limits to them after dark during the entire week and between the hours of 11:00 A.M. and 2:00 P.M. on Fridays. U.S. government employees are also forbidden from patronizing discos and nightclubs. All travelers who enter or travel in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank should exercise particular care when approaching and traveling through checkpoints and should expect delays and difficulties. Travelers should also be aware they might not be allowed passage through checkpoints. The State Department urges American citizens to remain vigilant while traveling anywhere in Jerusalem, especially within the commercial and downtown areas of West Jerusalem. Israeli security services report that they continue to receive information of planned terrorist attacks in and around Jerusalem. In addition, American citizens should stay away from demonstrations and generally avoid crowded public places, such as restaurants and cafes, shopping and market areas and malls, pedestrian zones, public transportation of all kinds, including buses and trains and their respective stations/terminals, and the areas around them. Spontaneous or planned protests within the Old City are possible, especially after Friday prayers. Some of these protests have led to violent clashes. Americans who remain in Israel, Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are strongly encouraged to register with the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv or the Consular Section of U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem through the State Department's travel registration website, https://travelregistration.state.gov. U.S. citizens who require emergency services may telephone the Consulate General in Jerusalem at (972) (2) 622-7250 or the Embassy in Tel Aviv at (972) (3) 519-7355.
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