Italy's foreign ministry has called on Italians in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories to "remain vigilant" and to exercise "extreme caution" amid the worst violence seen in the region in years.
The Safe Travel' section of the ministry's website, urges Italians in Jerusalem to avoid public transport and "maximum caution" in the Old City and the Temple Mount as well as in crowded areas and in all districts of East Jerusalem, where "it is inadvisable to venture, in especially in the evening".
The website advises "extreme caution" in the West Bank "where violent clashes and attacks are possible, including in the main urban centres". Italians should "totally avoid protests and gatherings as well as areas where security forces are present", the information states.
"The situation remains especially critical in Jenin and Nablus where any visits, touristic or otherwise, are highly inadvisable - in the city centres and entire areas of the two governorates," the information continues.
Italians are also advised to avoid areas around Palestinian settlements in Hebron and to show "maximum caution" in the area, avoiding "any kind of gathering - even the smallest - and scrupulously following local authority guidelines".
Areas near Jewish settlements and those "within or close to refugee camps" must be shunned, according to the foreign ministry.
Italians are "strongly advised" not to travel to the Gaza Strip, where "the situation remains volatile and a recrudescence of hostilities cannot be ruled out", the website warns.
Seven Israelis were killed and two injured in attacks in East Jerusalem at the weekend after nine Palestinians died in the West Bank days earlier in the deadliest Israeli army raid in two decades, stoking fears of an escalating conflict as tensions have continued to soar.
