Seoul, Aug 6 (IANS): South Korea is banning travel to the border regions of Israel and Lebanon, and raising a travel advisory for part of Iran as the tensions of conflict have sharply escalated in the Middle East, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

The Level 4 travel ban, the highest of the four-scale travel warning system, will be applied to the northern border region of Israel and Lebanon's southern border area, about 4 kilometers and 5 km from the Blue Line, respectively, the ministry said. The changes will be effective from Wednesday, Yonhap news agency reported.

The Blue Line is a temporary demarcation line dividing Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. It was drawn by the United Nations in 2000 to determine Israel's line of withdrawal from Lebanon.

Most of Israel and Lebanon had been under the Level 3 travel alert, which calls for people to leave the countries. The Gaza Strip and its border regions had already been issued the Level 4 travel warning.

A "special travel advisory," calling for people to cancel or postpone trips, will be issued for the rest of Iran.

South Korea maintains the Level 3 alert, recommending departure from the country, for the Iranian regions bordering Turkey and Iraq, and three coastal provinces -- Khuzestan, Bushehr and Hormozgan -- in the Persian Gulf.