Israelis hit the parks for Passover break, but tensions hover

Some 250,000 Israelis have visited national parks and other sites managed by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority Tuesday, the agency says, as the nation heads to the great outdoors for Passover break.

Among the top sites for visitors is Caesarea National Park, south of Haifa; Yarkon National Park, northeast of Tel Aviv; Ein Gedi and Masada, near the Dead Sea; the Banias Reserve, in the north; and Habesor National Park, in the northern Negev.

However, reports indicate that some tourists are staying away from southern Israel due to fears of spiking violence after Gaza terrorists shot rockets into Israel Monday night, as well as Jerusalem, where tensions and fighting have been on the rise.

“We’re in a situation where the fear has returned to the street,” Likud MK Shlomo Karhai, who lives in an Israeli community near the Gaza border, tells Channel 12 from a zoo near Haifa, as giraffes munch contentedly in the background.