The number of tourists visiting Israel rose in 2023 compared with 2022, although it plunged in October after war broke out between Israel and Hamas and remained low for the rest of the year, the Israeli tourism ministry said on Thursday.
Overall in 2023, 3 million tourists entered Israel © Mena Today
The number of tourists visiting Israel rose in 2023 compared with 2022, although it plunged in October after war broke out between Israel and Hamas and remained low for the rest of the year, the Israeli tourism ministry said on Thursday.
Up until October, the tourism industry was recovering from the collapse caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel the number of foreign visitors dropped suddenly.
Overall in 2023, 3 million tourists entered Israel, up from 2.7 million in 2022. December was the worst month of the year with just 52,800 tourists, while the number was above 300,000 per month for several months earlier in the year.
Hamas gunmen killed 1,200 people in southern Israel on Oct. 7 and took 240 hostage, according to Israeli authorities. Israel responded with a bombardment and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 22,000 people, according to health officials there.
Reporting by Emily Rose; Editing by Bill Berkrot
Israel is not seeking an endless war with Iran and will coordinate with the United States on when to end the fighting, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Tuesday, declining to publicly state a timeline for when the conflict could end.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun launched a scathing attack on Hezbollah Monday, accusing the Iran-backed group of deliberately seeking to trigger Lebanon's « collapse », and calling for direct negotiations with Israel to end the war.
Hezbollah said on Monday its fighters clashed with Israeli troops in eastern Lebanon during an Israeli airborne raid overnight, in what would be the second such operation in the area in recent days, as the war between Israel and the Iran-backed group entered a second week.
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