Israel lifted the ban on visiting Judea and Samaria by foreign pilgrims

Israeli authorities lifted the restrictions on visiting by foreign pilgrims of the holy places of Judea and Samaria, located on the territory of the Palestinian autonomy, Blagovet-Info reports with reference to the ASIANEWS news agency.

As the agency of the Israeli ambassador to Italy Ewood Gol, tourists arriving at Tel Aviv Airport, stated, stopped issuing booklets with a list of places whose visits are prohibited without written permission of the authorities.

Now pilgrims can freely visit Bethlehem, Jericho, Emmaus and Kumran. Earlier, going to these points, they risked being subjected to strict sanctions - up to deportation from Israel.

The ban on visiting the Palestinian territories was introduced by the Israeli authorities in January of this year and extremely negatively affected the state of the country's tourism business. As a result, the Minister of Tourism Rafael Ben Gur ordered the ban on visiting the parts of Judea and Samaria controlled by Palestinians.