DFA bans travel to Israel

The Department of Foreign Affairs advised yesterday Filipinos planning to visit Israel to forego travel to the Holy Land in view of the violent clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli security forces.

So far, the DFA said, 70 Palestinians and 17 Israelis had been killed in the conflict while more than 1,000 Palestinians had been injured.

According to the DFA, the most serious clashes occurred in many of the religious and historic sites frequented by tourists, including Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jerusalem, Galilee, Tiberias, Jaffa and Haifa.

The DFA said Filipinos should avoid these areas until tensions between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli forces have subsided.

Filipinos already in Israel are advised to refrain from going out, if travelling alone, or to stay together if in a group, and follow instructions of their tour guides.

They should avoid crowded places and must be alert for unattended luggage or packages in public places.

The Filipinos are also urged to inform Philippine Embassy officials and staff of their whereabouts and furnish them with their addresses and telephone numbers in Israel, as well as those of their relatives in the Philippines.

At the same time, the department also warned Filipinos travelling to Saudi Arabia and Yemen of the Rift Valley Fever (RVF) virus, which has killed 83 persons in the two countries since it was first reported in September in Saudi Arabia’s southern region of Jizan.

RVF is reported to be a potentially fatal viral disease that is transmitted to humans through direct contact with the blood and other body fluids of infected livestock and through bites from mosquitoes and other blood-sucking insects. — Aurea Calica