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JERUSALEM, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Israel on Monday warned its citizens against visiting Egypt's Sinai, Turkey and Jordan, and urged Israelis in Sinai to leave "immediately," amidst increased activity of Islamic State (IS) militants.
The Counter-Terrorism Bureau, operating under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister's office, raised the travel warning for Sinai to Level 1, the highest level of warning.
The advisory means "a very high and concrete threat" with a recommendation to avoid traveling to the destination or leave immediately.
The bureau also issued a Level 2 warning for Turkey, which signals "a high concrete threat with advice to avoid travels to the destination and leave as soon as possible."
The alert level for elsewhere in Egypt and for Jordan was raised to Level 3, meaning "a basic-level concrete threat" with advice to avoid travels to the destination.
Israel fears that IS-inspired terrorists will try to target Israeli tourists in these countries.
Eitan Ben David, head of the Counter-Terrorism Bureau, told a press conference on Monday that the warnings against traveling to Sinai "were issued in the wake of multiple terror attacks."
"Attacks on the Egyptian military, on Coptic Christians (...) IS militants fired rockets at Eilat, and video footages from IS against Israelis show the high motivation and power of terror groups there to attack Israelis," he said. "We don't expect them to respect red-lines," he added.
The Counter-Terrorism Bureau frequently releases travel warnings ahead of Jewish holiday of Passover in April and the beginning of the summer travel season, during which hundreds of thousands of Israelis travel abroad.
