MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/. All remaining Russian citizens currently in Israel on organized tours will return to Russia by October 15, Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) Executive Director Maya Lomidze told TASS.
"According to preliminary data, all tourists on organized tours are to return homeland by Sunday, with only a few of them currently remaining there," Lomidze said.
These tourists will be flown home on Saturday and Sunday, she specified.
There are less than 100 organized tourists from Russia in Israel now, with many travelers having returned home already after their tours ended, ATOR said on Tuesday, adding that around 150 Russians that were going to fly to the country for vacation are currently revising their plans depending on when their flight is.
Russia’s Economic Development Ministry recommended earlier that Russian tour operators and travel agencies suspend the sale of tours to Israel until the situation in the country cools down, and that Russian citizens refrain from trips there for tourism purposes.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when Palestinian militants from the Hamas movement attacked Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and carried out strikes on targets there and inside Lebanon and Syria, too. Hostilities have also broken out on the West Bank.
More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in clashes and strikes, while over 7,200 have suffered wounds, since the renewed outbreak of violence began. In Israel, roughly 1,500 people have lost their lives and almost 4,000 have been wounded.