The US, through the US State Department, has halted all visas issued to people from Gaza.
The move has been taken to conduct a “full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days,” said the agency.
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The news has, however, received backlash from Palestinian rights groups who have said that it risks the lives of the children and the critically ill from Gaza to the US for treatment.
“Will have a devastating and irreversible impact on our ability to bring injured and critically ill children from Gaza to the United States for lifesaving medical treatment”. the said
Far right activist Laura Loomer is among those who took on social media to call on the Trump administration to “shut this abomination down.”
She also thanked Secretary of State Marco Rubio for halting the visas, as revealed through her statement on Saturday.
Under the programme, Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund was able to successfully evacuate 169 children from Gaza in 2024 to receive treatment in the Middle East, South Africa, and the US.
President Donald Trump has previously been quoted as taking note of the starvation in Gaza, but he has also been Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
