Last update - 00:00 14/07/2007
U.S. issues warning to citizens against traveling to Gaza Strip
By Reuters
The United States issued a fresh travel warning for Israel and the Palestinian territories on Friday to include American journalists and aid workers after a spate of violence and political instability.
In a notice that superseded a warning issued on Jan. 17, the State Department urged U.S. citizens to be mindful of security when considering travel to Israel, to defer trips to the West Bank and avoid all travel to the Gaza Strip.
"American citizens in the Gaza Strip should depart immediately, a recommendation that the State Department has maintained and renewed since the deadly roadside bombing of a U.S. Embassy convoy in Gaza on Oct. 15, 2003," it said.
"This recommendation applies to all Americans, including journalists and aid workers."
The statement noted "considerable violence" in the Gaza Strip in recent months between Palestinian factions and between Israeli security forces and Palestinian militants.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas rejigged his government on Friday upon the expiration of a state of emergency he had declared when the Islamist movement Hamas violently seized control of Gaza a month ago.
Hamas, which has militant and political wings, won an election victory 18 months ago that led to an international aid embargo of the Palestinian Authority.
The United States, a key ally to Israel, lists Hamas as a terrorist organization.
The travel warning said militant groups in Gaza continue to launch rockets against nearby Israeli towns and urged U.S. citizens to "exercise a high degree of caution" when going to restaurants, malls, places of worship and other public places.
"Israeli authorities are concerned about the continuing threat of suicide bombings," it said. "The U.S. government has received information indicating that American interests could be the focus of terrorist attacks."