The Foreign Ministry has warned Finns against travelling to several countries due to the tightened security situation in the Middle East.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has updated its advisories for travel to Israel, the Palestinian Territory, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Iran.
"The end of Ramadan and the escalation of tensions between Israel and Iran may increase security risks in a wide area of the Middle East," the Ministry’s Director General of Consular Services, Jussi Tanner, said on social media post on Saturday afternoon.
In updated guidance on its website, the ministry advised Finns to avoid all travel to areas in or near Gaza.
"Due to recent large-scale rocket attacks, it is advised to avoid unnecessary travel to Israel and all travel to the southern part of the country near the Gaza border area," the ministry said.
Finnair detours around Iran
Meanwhile, Finnair is rerouting its long-haul flights to Asia in order to avoid Iranian airspace. The rerouting is to ensure the safety of the flights, the national airline told Yle on Saturday. It will not significantly increase travel times, Finnair said.
Finnair has flown through Iranian airspace to Thailand, India and Singapore, among other destinations.
Several other western airlines have also suspended flights over Iran. The Flightradar24 website shows that planes returning from Asia have detoured north of Iran to fly over Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to the Caspian Sea.
Fears of a retaliatory strike by Iran against Israel have raised tensions further in the Middle East in recent days. On 1 April, Israel attacked the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital, Damascus, killing seven military officers including two generals.
The US said on Friday that it had observed Iran moving military equipment, including drones and cruise missiles, in what could be a sign of preparations for an attack.