New travel warning issued to Aussies as Israeli strike kills 21 in Lebanese Christian village

New security advice has been issued to Australians as Labor announced sanctions against five Iranians. Follow live updates.

The Australian government is advising Australians not to travel to Israel or the West Bank and to leave while commercial flights are available.

In a major escalation of travel advice, Australians are being warned to leave immediately.

“We now advise do not travel to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories due to the volatile security situation, armed conflict, civil unrest and terrorism,” the Smartraveller website reads.

People at the site of an Israeli air strike around tents for displaced people inside the walls of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip. Picture: AFP

“If you’re in Israel, you should leave while commercial flights remain available, border crossings are open and while it’s safe to do so.”

It come as the Albanese government announced new targeted sanctions on five Iranians leading its missile program.

An Israeli attack on the Christian village of Aitou in north Lebanon has killed 21 people and wounded eight.

Paramedics with the Lebanese Red Cross transport a body unearthed from the rubble at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the northern Lebanese village of Aito. Picture: Fathi Al-Masri

“Iran’s proxies continue to launch daily attacks across the region, using missiles and other military equipment provided by Iran,” Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong’s office said in a statement.

“Iran’s delivery of ballistic missiles to Russia last month to aid its war against Ukraine further demonstrates Iran’s destabilising role.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to strike Hezbollah without mercy following a deadly drone strike on a military base in Israel, and retaliation would extend to targets in Beirut.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told his US counterpart Lloyd Austin that Israel would deliver a “forceful” response to Hezbollah after the Lebanese armed group struck an Israeli army base killing four soldiers.

The attack on a military training camp in Binyamina, near Haifa was the deadliest such assault on an Israeli base since September 23, when Israel increased its attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Emergency services reported more than 60 wounded.

An ambulance arrives at the site of a drone strike near the northern Israeli town of Binyamina. Picture: AFP

Palestinians inspect the damage at a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital, hit by an Israeli bombardment on Monday. Picture: AP Photo

But even as Netanyahu vowed to strike Beirut, Hezbollah said it had launched a barrage of rockets at the north Israeli town of Safed, more than three weeks after Israel intensified its air campaign on the Iran-backed group in Lebanon.

A Palestinian man reacts to a fire after an Israeli strike hit a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip. Picture: AP Photo

Hezbollah fighters fired a “big rocket salvo” at Safed, the group said in a statement, adding it was “in defence of Lebanon” and in response to Israeli attacks on Lebanese “cities, villages and civilians”.

Palestinians react to a fire after an Israeli strike hit a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah. Picture: AP Photo

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Originally published as New travel warning issued to Aussies as Israeli strike kills 21 in Lebanese Christian village