The U.S. government is warning Americans not to enter east Jerusalem, the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, as violence continues to plague those areas following the killings in Hebron.
In an advisory issued March 7, the State Department urged all American citizens to avoid travel to the troubled areas “at this time, due to the violence stemming from the murders of Palestinians in Hebron on Feb. 25.”
At least 29 Muslim worshippers died at the hands of militant Jewish settler Baruch Goldstein at the Tomb of the Patriarchs, touching off unrest throughout the administered territories.
Immediately following the incident, the State Department, through its Bureau of Consular Affairs, alerted travelers to the danger of violent confrontations in the territories and various locations in Israel.
The warning extended to areas within Israel at that time because of violent protest demonstrations in Jaffa, Nazareth, various parts of the Negev and other areas inside the Green Line.
The release issued March 7 deleted the warning about areas within the pre-1967 borders, reflecting the cessation of violent activity in those locations. A State Department spokesperson said she believed there had not been such an advisory against travel to Israel and the territories since the Persian Gulf War in 1991.
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