The United States has restricted travel for its employees in Israel amid fears of an attack by Iran.
The US embassy said staff had been told not to travel outside the greater Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Beersheba areas “out of an abundance of caution”.
UK Foreign Secretary, David Cameron has phoned his Iranian counterpart to urge against further escalation.
Iran has vowed to retaliate, blaming Israel for a strike on its consulate in Syria 11 days ago, killing 13 people.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for the consulate attack but is widely considered to have been behind it.
Iran backs Hamas, the armed Palestinian group fighting Israel in Gaza, as well as various proxy groups throughout the region, including some – such as Hezbollah in Lebanon – that frequently carry out strikes against the Israelis.
Those killed in the consulate attack included a senior commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon, as well as other military figures.
The attack came at a time of continuing diplomatic efforts to prevent the war in Gaza from spreading across the region.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government was ready to meet any security challenge, warning that Israel would harm any country that caused it harm.
“We are prepared to meet all of the security needs of the State of Israel, both defensively and offensively,” he said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken to the foreign ministers of China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to argue that further escalation is not in anyone’s interest.
The UK Foreign Office has also updated its travel advice for Israel to state that the country’s government has raised the “possibility of an attack on Israeli territory from Iran and that such an attack could trigger wider escalation”.
Since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October, the Foreign Office has warned against travel to large parts of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The October attack saw gunmen kill 1,200 people and take more than 250 hostages after crossing into Israel from Gaza.
Israel says that of 130 hostages still in Gaza, at least 34 are dead.
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