Israel urges citizens to leave Turkey right away

The warning was delivered amid a sizable demonstration in front of the nation’s consulate in Istanbul.

Tuesday, amid worldwide indignation over the deadly missile strike on a hospital in Gaza, Israel encouraged its nationals to leave Turkey immediately, citing the increased possibility of terrorist threats.

The National Security Council (NSC) of the nation increased the four-tier warning system’s travel alert for Turkey to its maximum level. According to an NSC statement published by Israeli media, there is “concern over the heightened motivation of terrorist actors and lone assailants to target Israelis in various countries worldwide” in light of recent events.

The NSC maintained the recommendation to avoid “non-essential” travel to Arab nations and the states bordering Iran, “specifically highlighting Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Azerbaijan,” and upped the risk rating for Morocco to rating 2 “in light of the evolving threat landscape.”

READ ALSO: Deadly hospital strike blamed on both Israelis and Palestinians

Following the news that a missile assault on the Ahli Hospital in Gaza had killed over 500 Palestinians, crowds gathered to protest outside the Israeli embassy in Istanbul at the time the notice was published. Social media videos reveal that some demonstrators tried to set the embassy building on fire by climbing on its fence and launching pyrotechnics at it.

The IDF and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the hospital was damaged by a missile fired by one of the Palestinian militant organisations, despite the fact that Palestinian officials promptly blamed Israel for the strike.

Despite this, the strike was widely condemned in the Arab world and elsewhere. A summit with the leaders of the US, Jordan, Egypt, and the Palestinian Authority that was scheduled for Wednesday was hastily cancelled by Amman in response to the tragedy.

Since Hamas and other militant groups launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of over 1,000 people, including hundreds of civilians, West Jerusalem has been carrying out retaliatory strikes on Gaza.