Israel urges citizens to leave tourist destinations in southern Sri Lanka amid terror threats

The Israel National Security Council on Wednesday urged its citizens to evacuate Arugam Bay, the south and west coastal areas of Sri Lanka, without delay due to a suspected terrorist threat.

The US embassy has also issued a security alert to its citizens in Sri Lanka saying that it had received “credible information warning of an attack targeting popular tourist locations in the Arugam Bay area.”

In a statement, the Israel National Security Council asked the Israeli citizens in Sri Lanka to be extremely “cautious” and said that they must exercise increased precaution. 

It asked the citizens to avoid openly exhibiting anything that could identify them as Israeli, like wearing t-shirts with Hebrew writing or any symbol that discloses their religion or nationality.

Arugam Bay area is a popular tourist destination located in the South eastern region of Sri Lanka, in the Tamil dominated Ampara district. The bay area, considered the surf capital of Sri Lanka, has been drawing a huge tourist crowd.

The scenic beauty and the picturesque locality sandwiched between Pottuvil and Panama in Ampara has been attracting a huge number of Israeli tourists as the surfers can enjoy the long waves in this part of Sri Lanka.

Israelis usually come to Arugam Bay during the surfing season in March and then later in October every year.

This time too, at least 50 percent of the tourists in Arugam bay were from Israel. 

Recently, Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Dr Vijitha Herath had voiced the country’s concern over Israel’s attack on Gaza and also called for an immediate ceasefire