Israel’s national security council has warned Israelis to immediately leave popular tourist areas in southern Sri Lanka after threats of a possible terrorist attack.

According to the council, Sri Lankan authorities had informed it of “a terrorist threat focused on tourist areas and beaches” around the popular surfing area of Arugam Bay in the south of the island.

Local police did not specify the nature of the threats or who had issued them but it was made clear they were directed against Israelis living and travelling in Sri Lanka.

In response, Israel’s security council designated the Arugam Bay area as a level four threat and urged any citizens present to take precautions including hiding their Jewish identity and not gathering together in large groups.

“The Israeli security establishment ... is in close contact with the security authorities in Sri Lanka and is following the developments,” it said.

The security council urged Israelis in the rest of the country to be careful and refrain from holding large gatherings in public areas.

Sri Lanka’s acting inspector general of police Priyantha Weerasooriya, said they had first received intelligence about possible threats on the 7 October.

“We had some intelligence reports that there could be an attack aimed at some foreign nationals,” he said. “This was discussed at the security council meeting extensively and we were given operational instructions by the council.”

Hundreds of police officers, alongside intelligence officials, were dispatched to the areas, where they set up roadblocks and security posts outside places of worship.

Earlier on Wednesday, the US embassy in Sri Lanka issued a warning of a threat to Israeli travellers. The embassy said it had “received credible information warning of an attack targeting popular tourist locations” in eastern Arugam Bay. The UK and Australia were also among the countries that updated their Sri Lanka travel advisories on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka, an island in the Indian Ocean, is a popular tourist destination that relies heavily on the income from international travellers. After the Covid crisis, the country has struggled to reboot its tourism industry and tried to attract tourists, particularly from Israel, offering long visas.

However, in areas such as Arugam Bay, tensions had reportedly risen recently after a heavy influx of Israeli tourists and businesses, with Hebrew signage heavily visible on shops and noticeboards.

Anger at Israel’s war in Gaza among parts of the Muslim community also reportedly led to calls for Israeli businesses in the area to be boycotted.

In a strongly worded statement on X, the area’s local MP Rehan Jayawickreme accused local Israeli businesses of operating illegally in Sri Lanka and stoking a “serious security threat that could derail Sri Lanka’s tourism recovery efforts”.

“To those Israelis fuelling this instability, let me make one thing clear: you cannot forcefully and illegally occupy our lands as you have done elsewhere,” he said, calling on Israelis to “respect the laws of this land”.

Sri Lanka has a recent dark history of terrorist attacks targeting tourists. In April 2019, three luxury hotels and several churches were targeted by Islamist suicide bombers, killing 270 people, including 45 foreigners. The case of the Easter attacks has still yet to reach trial and has been marred with allegations of political interference.

A police statement on Wednesday said in view of a growing number of tourists coming to Sri Lanka, they had prepared a special strategy to ensure their safety “taking the war situation in the Middle East and eastern Europe into account”.