OTTAWA — Global Affairs Canada has upgraded its travel advisory for Israel to its highest risk level, warning Canadians to avoid all travel to the country due to the unpredictable security situation and ongoing regional conflicts.

The upgraded advisory was made on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. No one immediately claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack but suspicion quickly fell on Israel, which vowed to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders over the group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and her G7 counterparts have issued a joint statement calling for a de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East.

The foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States issued the statement, along with the High Representative of the European Union.

The statement, which was released Sunday by Global Affairs Canada, says the ministers are expressing their “deep concern at the heightened level of tension in the Middle East, which threatens to ignite a broader conflict in the region.”

It urges all parties to refrain from retaliatory violence, saying “No country or nation stands to gain from a further escalation in the Middle East.”

Fears of an all-out regional war in the Middle East are mounting after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.

Canada had previously upgraded its travel advisory in April 2024 to warn against all travel to Israel and the West Bank, but soon after downgraded its warning for Israel to “avoid all non-essential travel.”

Saturday’s updated advisory states that the security situation “can deteriorate further without warning” and that travellers “should not rely on the Government of Canada for an assisted departure or evacuation.” In the event of an evacuation, Government of Canada-assisted departures would only be available to Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

To read the full advisory, click here. 

With files from the Canadian Press and Associated Press